Weekly tech news – April 6, 2020

Big tech companies are pledging donations as part of the COVID response, this week’s tech news note. Google and Facebook are committing to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to support businesses, organizations and healthcare workers as part of its coronavirus response – most of it in the form of free advertising and by offering tools such as Community Help, where people can volunteer to pick up groceries, ask someone to run an errand or donate to fundraisers.  In the meantime, doctors are turning to social media to share news, such as the lack of resources in hospitals. Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok have become platforms for them to talk about the issues they are facing every day. We are living an infodemic also, WHO says. BBC explains how we can all slow the spread of harmful falsehoods online. Find out more in this week’s tech news summary.

Big tech companies are pledging donations as part of the COVID response. Google (GOOGL) is committing to donate more than $800 million to support businesses, organizations and healthcare workers as part of its coronavirus response – most of it in the form of free advertising. Facebook (FB), like Google, has offered free ad credits to the WHO and other institutions to provide accurate information about the coronavirus, but the WHO has not officially placed any ads on Facebook yet.

Facebook has also added features to help people fight this crisis – the first example is a feature that lets neighbors volunteer to help each other during a pandemic, CNN announces. On Tuesday, the social network announced the “Community Help” feature, where people can volunteer to pick up groceries, ask someone to run an errand or donate to fundraisers. Users in the US will be able to see posts within a 50-mile radius of their location or closer. Facebook said it noticed users offering or asking for help and wanted to build a feature to make the process easier.

In the meantime, doctors are turning to social media to share news, such as a lack of resources from hospitals. Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok have become platforms for them to talk about the issues they are facing every day. In a sign of the times, doctors are effectively waging a two-pronged fight against coronavirus: one part takes place in overcrowded hospitals and the other takes place on noisy social media platforms as they work to combat what the World Health Organization has declared an infodemic with accurate, authoritative voices. Read more on this subject on CNN.

We are living an infodemic also, WHO says. Misleading coronavirus advice is going viral on social media feeds. BBC explains how we can all slow the spread of harmful falsehoods online.