Your Web News in One Place

Help Webnuz

Referal links:

Sign up for GreenGeeks web hosting
November 1, 2019 06:44 pm

Black Salve Is A Dangerous Fake Cancer Cure, But It Continues To Flourish In Facebook Groups

Even as Facebook has cracked down on anti-vaxxers and peddlers of snake oil cure-alls, a particularly grotesque form of fake cancer treatment has flourished in private groups on Facebook. From a report: Black salve, a caustic black paste that eats through flesh, is enthusiastically recommended in dedicated groups as a cure for skin and breast cancer -- and for other types of cancer when ingested in pill form. There's even a group dedicated to applying the paste to pets. A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that these groups don't violate its community guidelines. This summer, it launched an initiative to address "exaggerated or sensational health claims" and will downrank that content in the News Feed, similar to how it handles clickbait. But it's not clear how it defines what a "sensational" health claim is. Citing user privacy, Facebook would not say whether or not it had downranked the black salve groups in the News Feed. Other platforms have taken a different approach. When BuzzFeed News asked YouTube about several videos where people discussed using black salve, YouTube said the videos were in violation and removed them. Amazon, which does not sell the salve itself, removed a book about black salve when BuzzFeed News asked about it.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.


Original Link: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/8xdO1TaVtb8/black-salve-is-a-dangerous-fake-cancer-cure-but-it-continues-to-flourish-in-facebook-group

Share this article:    Share on Facebook
View Full Article

Slashdot

Slashdot was originally created in September of 1997 by Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda. Today it is owned by Geeknet, Inc..

More About this Source Visit Slashdot