False information about the new coronavirus has continued to spread around the world, just like the illness itself. In answer, major technology companies have created new tools and rules to reduce misinformation and provide facts about the virus.就像疾病本身一样，有关新冠状病毒的虚假信息继续在世界范围内传播。对此，主要的技术公司已经创建了新的工具和规则，以减少错误信息并提供有关该病毒的事实。
Health officials and others have welcomed the new efforts. They have long urged tech companies to do more to prevent the spread of false information online.卫生官员和其他人士对新的努力表示欢迎。他们长期以来一直敦促科技公司做更多的事情，以防止虚假信息在网上传播。
Andy Pattison is head of digital solutions for the World Health Organization (WHO). He told The Associated Press that some major tech companies have taken stronger action to reduce coronavirus misinformation.Andy Pattison是世界卫生组织（WHO）的数字解决方案负责人。他告诉美联社，一些大型科技公司已经采取了更强有力的措施来减少冠状病毒的错误信息。
For the past two years, Pattison has been urging companies like Facebook to take more aggressive action against false information about vaccinations. Now, he says his team spends a lot of time identifying misleading coronavirus information online. Sometimes, Pattison contacts officials at Facebook, Google and YouTube to request that they remove such misinformation.在过去的两年中，Pattison一直在敦促Facebook之类的公司采取更积极的行动，以应对有关疫苗接种的虚假信息。现在，他说他的团队花费大量时间在网上识别误导性冠状病毒信息。Pattison有时会联系Facebook，Google和YouTube的官员，要求他们删除此类错误信息。
In some cases, coronavirus misinformation has led to deadly results. Last month, Iranian media reported more than 300 people had died and 1,000 were sickened after eating methanol, a poisonous alcohol. Information about the substance being a possible cure for coronavirus had recently appeared on social media.在某些情况下，冠状病毒错误信息导致了致命的结果。上个月，伊朗媒体报道说，食用甲醇（一种有毒的酒精）后，有300多人死亡，1000人患病。有关该物质可用于治疗冠状病毒的信息最近已出现在社交媒体上。
In the American state of Arizona, a man died and his wife became seriously ill after taking chloroquine phosphate, a product that some people mistake for the anti-malaria drug chloroquine.在美国亚利桑那州，服用氯喹磷酸盐后，一名男子死亡，其妻子也患了重病，该产品被一些人误认为是抗疟疾药物氯喹。
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, says chloroquine phosphate is used to treat disease in fish kept at home. It is not meant to be taken by humans. Chloroquine has been used to treat malaria and some other conditions in humans. It is being studied as a possible treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.美国食品和药物管理局（FDA）说，磷酸氯喹用于治疗在家饲养的鱼类中的疾病。它不适合人类使用。氯喹已被用于治疗人类的疟疾和其他一些疾病。目前正在研究将其作为治疗COVID-19（一种由新的冠状病毒引起的疾病）的可能方法。
U.S. President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have said they think chloroquine could be an effective treatment against the virus. Similar claims about chloroquine were widely publicized and shared on social media.美国总统唐纳德·特朗普及其一些支持者表示，他们认为氯喹可能是一种有效的抗病毒治疗方法。关于氯喹的类似说法已在社会媒体上广泛宣传和分享。
However, health officials have warned that the drug has not been proven to be safe or effective in treating or preventing COVID-19. Twitter and Facebook decided to take steps to reduce the spread of information about such unproven treatments.但是，卫生官员警告说，该药物尚未被证明在治疗或预防COVID-19方面是安全或有效的。Twitter和Facebook决定采取措施，以减少有关未经证实的治疗方法的信息传播。
Twitter removed a post by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani that described hydroxychloroquine, which is related to chloroquine, as "100 percent effective" against coronavirus. Twitter also removed a tweet from a Fox News broadcaster in which she said the drug had shown "promising results."Twitter删除了特朗普的私人律师鲁迪·朱利安尼（Rudy Giuliani）的一篇帖子，该帖子称与氯喹有关的羟氯喹对冠状病毒“ 100％有效”。Twitter还从福克斯新闻广播公司删除了一条推文，她说该药显示出“有希望的结果”。
And in what may have been a first, Facebook removed information posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who claimed hydroxychloroquine was "working in every place" to treat coronavirus. Twitter also removed a linked video.最初，Facebook删除了巴西总统贾尔·博尔索纳罗（Jair Bolsonaro）发布的信息，后者声称羟氯喹“在每个地方都在工作”以治疗冠状病毒。Twitter还删除了链接的视频。
Facebook, Twitter, Google and others have increased their use of machine learning tools to identify false information. They also have put in place new restrictions on publishing misinformation.Facebook，Twitter，Google和其他公司增加了使用机器学习工具来识别虚假信息的能力。他们还对发布错误信息设置了新的限制。
Dipayan Ghosh is co-director of the Platform Accountability Project at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He told The Associated Press that technology companies have learned that the publication of misinformation about the coronavirus can have tragic results.Dipayan Ghosh是马萨诸塞州剑桥市哈佛肯尼迪学校平台问责制项目的共同负责人。他告诉美联社，科技公司已经获悉，有关冠状病毒的错误信息的发布可能会带来悲剧性的结果。
"They don't want to be held responsible in any way for perpetuating rumors that could lead directly to death," Ghosh said.戈什说：“他们不希望以任何方式使可能直接导致死亡的谣言永久化。”
For example, the Facebook-owned private messaging service WhatsApp has put a limit on the number of people users can forward messages to. WhatsApp hopes this helps limit the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.例如，Facebook拥有的私人消息传递服务WhatsApp限制了用户可以向其转发消息的人数。WhatsApp希望这有助于限制COVID-19错误信息的传播。
Facebook also recently announced that it would start warning users if they have reacted to or shared false or harmful claims about COVID-19. The company says it will start sending such warning messages in the coming weeks. The users will also be directed to a website where the WHO lists and debunks misinformation about the coronavirus.Facebook最近还宣布，如果用户对COVID-19做出反应或分享虚假或有害声明，它将开始警告用户。该公司表示将在未来几周内开始发送此类警告消息。用户还将被引导到一个网站，在该网站上，世卫组织列出并揭穿了有关冠状病毒的错误信息。
In addition to efforts to reduce false information, technology companies have noted they are widely publishing facts about the virus from trusted news sources and health officials. They are also making that information easy for users to find.除了减少虚假信息的努力外，技术公司还注意到它们正在从可信赖的新闻来源和卫生官员那里广泛发布有关该病毒的事实。他们还使该信息易于用户查找。
The WHO's Andy Pattison praises those efforts, too; more correct information can help reduce the level of misinformation, he said.世卫组织的安迪·帕蒂森（Andy Pattison）也对这些努力表示赞赏。他说，更正确的信息可以帮助减少错误信息的水平。
"People will fill the void out of fear," he added.他补充说：“人们将出于恐惧而填补空白。”
