Small businesses boost as Facebook is giving away $100MILLION ‘coronavirus fund’ to help 30,000 survive outbreak
FACEBOOK has pledged a staggering $100million (£83million) to small businesses – to help them survive the coronavirus crisis.
As the pandemic rages across the world, small businesses are under particular threat and desperately need cash injections.
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Facebook also has an advice page for managing businesses through the COVID-19 crisis, which you can find .
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Pressure on tech
In other Facebook news, Zuckerberg has also pledged to give all 45,000 employees $1,000 in cash (£830) – equating to tens of millions of dollars.
And this week, Facebook teamed up with rival tech giants Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn, Twitter and Reddit to crack down on coronavirus scams and fake news.
It came as The Sun revealed how coronavirus scams and COVID-19 conspiracy theories have been spreading like wildfire.
Hackers and scammers are preying on the confusion and interest in coronavirus online.
Pressure is ramping up for tech firms to do more.
In a joint statement, they wrote: "We are working closely together on COVID-19 response efforts.
"We're helping millions of people stay connected while also jointly combating fraud and misinformation about the virus, elevating authoritative content on our platforms.
"And sharing critical updates in coordination with government healthcare agencies around the world.
"We invite other companies to join us as we work to keep our communities healthy and safe."
Earlier this week, Twitter created a brand new handwashing emoji to help fight germs during the coronavirus pandemic.
The emoji is backed by the World Health Organisation – and shows how social media is becoming a tool to tackle the outbreak.
Any Twitter user can trigger the emoji by using any one of four hashtags.
They are: #handwashing, #SafeHands, #HandWashChallenge and #WashYourHands.
The #SafeHands campaign is backed by the WHO, which has been working overtime to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebrevesus, the WHO director general, praised the emoji while sharing a video of himself washing his hands.
In a tweet, Dr Tedros wrote: "Thank you Twitter for such a nice addition to our #SafeHands challenge!
";We @WHO love it and hope the challenge will generate videos as creative as the new #HandWashing emoji!"
Covid-19 originated in the city of Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and has since travelled rapidly across the globe.
People can spread the virus to each other through close contact or bodily fluids.
An infection causes flu-like symptoms and is thought to kill about two per cent of cases – largely the elderly or people with pre-existing conditions.
The virus has killed more than 7,500 worldwide, according to an estimate from Johns Hopkins University.
In other news,Instagram has banned dangerous, reckless and insensitive coronavirus filters.
Criminals are taking advantage of the Covid-19 outbreak by sending scam emails claiming to be from the WHO.
And, we debunked some of the most outrageous coronavirus conspiracy theories.
What do you think of this move by Facebook? Let us know in the comments!
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