Due to an influx of scams surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, Facebook is upping their measures to prevent posts targeting the compromised, but this is having the adverse effect in some cases.
RELATED: Call National Center for Disaster Fraud if you suspect a scheme
Sheri Adkins, co-owner of Adkins Funeral Home in Enon, posted to their business page offering to help “people who are elderly or compromised or have young children they don’t want exposed.”
Explaining that as an essential business they still have to be out in some capacity, they expressed wanting to aid those who do need to shelter in place. “We would like to offer to get groceries, medicines or any other necessities for people who can’t get out during these difficult times.”
Unfortunately, as their post started getting shared by those in the community, Facebook flagged it as a possible scam. It was removed temporarily until Adkins filed an appeal.
“It really shocked me. I never dreamed it would be a bad thing but I guess I never thought about people trying to take advantage of people that way,” she told us. “But I guess they could, so after the initial shock I was like well, I’m glad Facebook is taking that step.”
The flagging and removal of Facebook posts is managed by an algorithm, but once a page files an appeal, an employee of the internet giant takes a look. This is why seemingly innocent posts can slip through the cracks, and be flagged undeservedly.
"We're doing everything we can to keep our global teams and the community that uses our apps safe while continuing to provide the services people and businesses rely on," Facebook said in a statement.
Due to staffing issues from the pandemic, however, Facebook is warning its users that the appeals process will likely take a hit.
“Given our reduced workforce, we’ll give people the option to tell us that they disagree with our decision and we’ll monitor that feedback to improve our accuracy, but we likely won’t review content a second time.”
If a post of yours is flagged by Facebook during this time, it may make more sense to try posting again, rather than filing an appeal.
More information on Facebook changes during the pandemic can be found here.
