Glimmer COVID-19 Misinformation Policy

Overview

March 2022

This COVID-19 Misinformation Policy (Policy) sets out our commitment to preventing and mitigating the spread of COVID-19 misinformation or disinformation by users on our mobile application “Glimmer” (Platform). In this Policy we, us or our means Glimmer World Pty Ltd.

The terms in this Policy have the same meaning given to them in our Terms and Conditions. In the event of any inconsistency between the terms of this Policy and that of any of our Terms and Conditions or policies, the order of precedence is as follows: (1) our Terms and Conditions; (2) this Policy; and (3) any other policies.

You must not use our Platform to share false or misleading information about COVID-19 which may lead to harm. 

Even as scientific understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, we’ve observed the emergence of persistent conspiracy theories, alarmist rhetoric unfounded in research or credible reporting, and a wide range of false narratives, unsubstantiated information and rumours.  Left out of context, this can prevent the public from making informed decisions regarding their health, and puts individuals, families and communities at risk.

Content that is demonstrably false or misleading and may lead to significant risk of harm (such as increased exposure to the virus, or adverse effects on public health systems), as determined by us, must not be shared on our Platform. This includes sharing content that may mislead people about the nature of the COVID-19 virus; the efficacy and/or safety of preventative measures, treatments, or other precautions to mitigate or treat the disease; official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories; or the prevalence of the virus or risk of infection or death associated with COVID-19. 

What is in violation of this Policy?

In order for content related to COVID-19 to be considered violative under this Policy, it must, as determined by us: 

• advance a claim of fact, expressed in definitive terms; 
• be demonstrably false or misleading, based on widely available, authoritative sources; and
• be likely to impact public safety or cause serious harm.

Content Removal

We may require customers to delete Content that is found to violate this Policy and is harmful. We may also temporarily lock you out of your Account before you can post or share information again. This type of Content will accrue 2 strikes in accordance with our strike policy stated below. We will require the deletion of Content that contains, for example: 

• False claims about COVID-19 that invoke a deliberate conspiracy by malicious and/or powerful forces, such as:
• The pandemic is a hoax, or part of a deliberate attempt at population control, or that 5G wireless technology is causing COVID-19; 
• COVID-19 is not a real disease;

• Immunisations are part of a global surveillance, population control or depopulation effort;
• Vaccines (in general) are dangerous and have adverse effects that have been covered up by governments/the medical industry;
• Vulnerable groups (such as pregnant women, the elderly, or children) are being experimented on;
• COVID-19 vaccines are causing magnetic reactions in individuals who have been vaccinated; 
• Vaccines approved by health agencies (such as Pfizer's Comirnaty vaccine in the United States) did not actually receive full approval/authorisation, and therefore the vaccines are untested, “experimental” or somehow unsafe.
• Claims that specific groups or people (or other demographically-identifiable identity) are more or less prone to be infected or to develop adverse symptoms on the basis of their membership in that group;
• False or misleading claims about potentially harmful and unapproved treatments or preventative measures, for example, that chlorine dioxide or Povidone-iodine can be used as a prophylactic or in the treatment of COVID-19; 
• False or misleading information about official regulations, restrictions, or exemptions pertaining to health advisories;
• Any efforts to promote, advertise, facilitate the sale of, or provide instructions on how to create fraudulent vaccination cards (or other digital records) or “exemption cards";
• False information about widely accepted testing methodologies, such as that PCR tests are unable to detect the virus;
• False claims that suggest vaccines contain deadly and severely harmful ingredients; and
• False affiliation i.e. accounts which misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation to a medical practitioner, public health official or agency, research institution, or that falsely suggests expertise on COVID-19 issues.

Content Label

When Content includes misleading information about COVID-19, we may place a label on such Content that includes corrective information about that claim. In cases where we determine there is potential for harm associated with the misleading claim, we will disable the ability for others to repost, share, or engage with the Content in other ways such as adding a Glow and for the post to be Glowing, to prevent the spread of the misleading information. This type of Content will accrue 1 strike in accordance with our strike policy stated below. 

In some cases, we may also add labels to provide context in situations where authoritative (scientific or otherwise) opinion might change or is changing over time, in situations where local context is important, or when the potential for harm is less direct or imminent. We may also apply labels on Content linking to content from a third-party website that would otherwise violate our policies if the Content were posted directly on the Glimmer Platform. Content with labels that meet these criteria will receive a label that provides credible and authoritative information, but will not accrue a strike in accordance with our strike policy stated below. 

We may apply labels to Content that contain, for example:

• False or misleading information about preventative measures one can take to avoid infection, such as claims that face masks cause hypoxia or bacteria pneumonia, or do not work to reduce transmission or to protect against COVID-19;
• False or misleading information suggesting that unapproved treatments can be curative of COVID-19;
• False or misleading information regarding the safety or science behind approved or authorised COVID-19 vaccines, such as: 
• The vaccines will cause you to be sick, spread the virus, or would be more harmful than getting COVID-19;
• Content that incites fear or misrepresent the ingredients or contents of COVID-19 vaccines;
• Content that mischaracterises the nature and science behind mRNA vaccines, and how they work;
• Content that claims vaccines alter genetic code; 
• Content that misrepresents or misuses official reporting tools/statistics; and
• False or misleading claims that people who have received the vaccine can spread or shed the vaccine (or symptoms, or immunity) to unvaccinated people.
• False or misleading information that misrepresents the protective effect of vaccines to make claims contrary to health authorities. Claims that misrepresent research or statistical findings pertaining to the severity of the disease, prevalence of the virus, or effectiveness of widely accepted preventative measures, treatments, or vaccines. 

When a label is applied to Content, this typically entails: 

• Presenting a warning message on the Content;
• Showing an additional prompt to warn people before sharing or reposting the Content;
• Reducing the visibility of the Content on the Glimmer Platform and/or preventing it from being recommended, reshared or being Glowing;
• Turning off Glows, replies, and comments; and/or
• Providing a link to additional explanations or clarifications, such as in a curated landing page or relevant Glimmer policies.

If you believe that your Content was labelled incorrectly or in error, you can submit an appeal by contacting us via email on [email protected]. If we have labelled your Content in error, we will promptly reinstate the Content. If we have labelled your Content correctly, we may provide you with written reasons. We reserve the right to determine, in our absolute discretion, the outcome of any appeal submitted by you.

What is not a violation of this Policy?

We seek to protect robust, public debate about the response to COVID-19, and recognise that the state of scientific knowledge about certain aspects of the pandemic and public response to it (including the development of vaccines) is still evolving. In the absence of other Policy violations, the following are generally not in violation of this Policy:

• Strong commentary, opinions, and/or satire: these are allowed provided they do not contain false or misleading assertions of fact;
• Campaigns against official advisories or recommendations: people are entitled to organise and campaign around matters that are important to them, so long as they’re not advancing false and harmful misinformation in the process;
• Counterspeech: we allow for direct responses to misleading information which seek to undermine its impact by correcting the record, amplify credible information, and educate the wider community about the prevalence and dynamics of misleading information;
• Personal anecdotes or first-person accounts: we do not enforce the Policy on reports or first-person accounts of side-effects, injury, or harm alleged to have been caused by COVID-19 vaccines, or other matters pertaining to COVID-19; and
• Public debate about the advancement of COVID-19 science and research: this includes debate about research related to COVID-19, such as the effectiveness of treatments and mitigation measures, so long as the claims don’t intentionally misrepresent research findings.

Who can report violations of this Policy?

While we have recently launched a customer report feature in some countries, we primarily enforce this Policy in close coordination with trusted partners, including public health authorities, NGOs and governments, and continue to use and consult with information from those sources when reviewing content.

We also leverage proactive detection using a combination of keyword heuristics and machine learning models to identify harmful forms of COVID-19 related misleading information.

You may report violations of this Policy to us by sending us Feeback on the Glimmer Platform or by contacting us via email on [email protected].

What happens if you violate this Policy?

Strike system

The consequences for violating our Policy depends on the severity and type of the violation and the account’s history of previous violations. In instances where accounts repeatedly violate this Policy, we will use a strike system to determine if further enforcement actions should be applied. We believe this system further helps to reduce the spread of potentially harmful and misleading information on Glimmer, particularly for high-severity violations of our rules.

Repeated violations of this Policy are enforced against on the basis of the number of strikes an account has accrued for violations of this Policy:

• 1 strike: No Account-level action
• 2 strikes: 12-hour Account lock
• 3 strikes: 1 day Account lock
• 4 strikes: 7-day Account lock
• 5 or more strikes: Permanent suspension

If you believe that your Account was locked or suspended in error, you can submit an appeal by sending an email to [email protected]. If we have locked or suspended your Account in error, we will promptly unlock or unsuspend your Account. If we have locked or suspended your Content correctly, we may provide you with written reasons. We reserve the right to determine, in our absolute discretion, the outcome of any appeal submitted by you.

Reducing Visibility of Content Related to COVID-19 Misinformation 

We may reduce the visibility of Content or Accounts that we believe with high confidence to be in violation of the Policy. Limitations on the visibility of Content and/or Accounts resulting from this framework expire automatically after a limited period of time, but may be re-applied (either manually or automatically) if we determine that the Accounts have continued to violate the Policy. We may reduce the visibility by: 

• Making and sharing of Content from those Accounts ineligible to appear in certain parts of the Glimmer Platform (such as top Search results); 
• Displaying comments from the Account in a lower position in conversations; or
• Excluding Content by the Account and/or the actual Account in email or in-product recommendations. 

Permanent Suspension

We may immediately permanently suspend accounts that represent the following violative behaviours: 

• False affiliation: if the Account is determined to misrepresent their affiliation, or share content that falsely represents its affiliation as a medical practitioner, public health official or agency, research institution, or that falsely suggests expertise on COVID-19 issues.
• Repeated Violations: if we determine that the Account repeatedly violates the Policy over a 30-day time period, or if we have determined that the Account has been set up for the expressed purpose of posting or communicating false or misleading information about COVID-19.

Additional resources

Further resources by the World Health Organisation are available here: Information on COVID-19

Amendments

We may, at any time and at our discretion, vary this COVID-19 Misinformation Policy by publishing the amended COVID-19 Misinformation Policy on our website. We recommend you check our website regularly to ensure you are aware of our current COVID-19 Misinformation Policy.

For any questions or notices, please contact our [COVID-19 Misinformation Officer] at: [email protected]

Glimmer World Pty Ltd ABN 44 645 962 036

Last update: 25 March 2022