Facebook is launching a new 'coronavirus information center' that will appear at the top of people's News Feeds

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The feature will promote official information about the spread of COVID-19, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said.

• Facebook will launch a new "coronavirus information center" that will sit at the top of people's News Feeds, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday.
• The center will promote official information about the spread of COVID-19 and government advice on measures like social distancing.
• The information center will appear at the top of people's news feeds in the next 24 hours, according to Zuckerberg.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Facebook will begin promoting official information about COVID-19 prevention in a "coronavirus information center" that sits at the top of people's news feeds, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a call with reporters Wednesday.

The new information center is the latest feature Facebook is rolling out as part of a broader push to promote helpful information about the virus from governments and health researchers while attempting to minimize misinformation on the platform.

"The top priority for us has been making sure people can get access to good trustworthy information about the outbreak from reliable sources," Zuckerberg said.

Facebook joined forces with Google, Reddit, Twitter, and Microsoft earlier this week to commit to fighting misinformation about coronavirus. The World Health Organization has warned of an "infodemic" of fake news and rumors spurred by people's fear of the virus and demand for new information.

"We're seeing hoaxes that are encouraging people who are sick to not get treatment, or to not protect the people around them ... we've seen one hoax that encourages people if you're sick to drink bleach," Zuckerberg said. "That's terrible, that's going to cause imminent harm."

Zuckerberg said one of the most urgent focuses of the new information center would be to inform and direct users to follow government recommendations regarding social distancing.

"We need to make sure people honor this," he said.

The information center will update in real time with new information and recommendations from official sources like the CDC and the WHO.

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