When Facebook plays doctor

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/19177083.73952/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS90ZWNobm9sb2d5/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdBc1b281af [Get the newsletter]( Hi everyone, it's Sarah Frier. I’m a Bloomberg reporter for all things social media, and one of your new Thursday newsletter writers. Starting today, you'll be hearing from me or my colleague Kurt Wagner in this space about the top stories in tech. So far this year, there’s been deep anxiety in the U.S. about online misinformation as the 2020 election looms. Facebook Inc. has said it won’t change its policy of allowing politicians to lie in ads, making the case that doing nothing is better than acting as an arbiter of truth in politics. That decision—the conclusion after months of public criticism—wasn't very interesting in the end. The bigger question I have is this: When Facebook does take a stand about what is or isn't allowed on its site, how does it possibly enforce those rules? I'm asking because this week is the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which means San Francisco’s Union Square neighborhood has transformed into a zoo of people in suits talking about the future of their industry. The conference is increasingly focused on the vast potential good that technology can yield in health care. But there’s also plenty of bad. In Facebook groups, there's a deep well of misguided testimonials about alternative treatments, and on Instagram, influencers tout dubious miracle cures with potentially devastating real-world consequences.  Last year, Facebook said it would remove vaccine misinformation from its recommendations in search and on Instagram Explore. The company also said that ad buyers would no longer be able to serve anti-vaccination messages. That's still the rule, but BuzzFeed found anti-vax ads as recently as [last week](. In December, reporters found marketing on Facebook for a dangerous ["cancer cure" called “black salve](.” And the Washington Post uncovered the proliferation of misinformation around [HIV-prevention drugs](, which gay rights advocates said had the potential to trigger a public health crisis. Every week it seems there is [another horrifying]( story of a high-risk cure-all marketed via Facebook. We can debate Facebook's rules all we want, but even with clearer guidelines in place surrounding health, we can still find misinformation, lies and diet pills. For the time being, the burden of discerning the truth still falls on individuals—whether we're trying to figure out how to cure what ails us, or who to vote for. —[Sarah Frier](mailto:sfrier1@bloomberg.net) If you read one thing Twitter users are always calling out the CEO @jack when they think a user needs to be punished or taken off the platform. (The calls have grown louder with each inflammatory @realdonaldtrump tweet.) But there's only one person with the authority to ban the president, or anyone else, and her name is Vijaya Gadde. Read Bloomberg's profile of the exec [here](.  And here’s what you need to know in global technology news We were promised flying cars—and Toyota wants to deliver them. The automaker is [investing $394 million]( in Joby Aviation, a startup that aims to make electric air taxis. Google's move to stamp out cookies is upending the [world of online advertising](. Visa's $5.3 billion deal to buy Plaid may be a harbinger of future deals to come in the fintech world. Experts say Stripe, Kabbage, and lenders like Affirm [could also be on the block](. Tesla is the country's most-shorted stock [once again](.   Like Bloomberg's Fully Charged? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Before it's here, it's on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can't find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022