| 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 | 
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