From the earliest days of the COVID 19 pandemic, the World Health Organization has tried to eliminate the widespread influx of misinformation through a variety of media. Yet, in a February 9th article on National Public Radio’s Goats and Soda blog, a number of cybersecurity experts, including Dr. Nasir Memon, cofounder of the Center for Cybersecurity at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, point out that while the agency effort is commendable, the tech companies they are partnered with have not done enough to be effective.

Memon, a professor of computer science and engineering at New York University, observes that flagging or pulling down a problematic social media post often comes too late to undo the harm. “It only comes after the post has gone viral,” he says, adding, that “a company might do a fact check and put a warning label. But, by then the ones who consumed that information already have been influenced in some way.”

The story also ran on the blog for the NPR station WAMU at American University. You can read the full story here.