Twitter Fights Disinformation On Vaccines In Malaysia With New MOH Partnership
This is part of the expansion of their #KnowTheFacts initiative across Asia Pacific.
By May Vin Ang — 31 Dec 2019, 01:43 PM
Twitter has collaborated with the Ministry of Health to help Malaysians easily access reliable public health information on their platform
On 20 December, the social media platform announced the expansion of their #KnowTheFacts initiative to countries in the Asia Pacific including Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
They have collaborated with Health Ministries of the individual countries to bring a notification service on their website that points people to credible government-approved resources that provide critical information on immunisation and vaccinations.
This new tool means that when someone searches for keywords associated with vaccines, a prompt right at the top of the results will show them a credible website for more information
"Know the facts," the notification reads, "To ensure that you obtain valid information about vaccinations, resources are available from the Ministry of Health Malaysia and the MyHEALTH Portal."
Following the message is a link to the MyHEALTH portal and also the Ministry of Health's Twitter account.
There is a similar notification for when a user searches a keyword associated with 'suicide'
In Malaysia, searching about suicide on Twitter will lead users to Befrienders KL.
Acknowledging that mental health issues are on the rise, Twitter hopes this simple notification service can "provide valuable mental health resources to vulnerable people and encourage them to reach out and get help when they need it".
"Help is available," they remind the user.
