Health was one of the main topics in the group discussion at the F8 Facebook conference held last week.
The social media platform announced that it has created a “Health Support” tool to help users finding groups that fit their health interests and needs.
Facebook, as a result of its growing focus on privacy, plans to create tools to help maintain the confidentiality of users of health groups.
Fidji Simo, head of the Facebook app, said that health support groups will allow their members to publish, through their administrators, anonymous content to protect their privacy on sensitive topics.
Facebook has been the focus of investigation and controversy over its role in the Cambridge Analytical scandal, where data from over 85 million Facebook users were used by the consulting firm that worked on the Donald Trump campaign.
Allowing users to remain anonymous when publishing an article about a health condition seems to indicate that the company is paying more attention to privacy.
Facebook has long been involved in the world of health. In February, the platform launched a blood donation feature, which allows users to register as donors and receive notifications when neighbouring blood banks need help.
It has also launched a new strategy to curb the spread of misinformation about vaccines both on its main social media platform and on Instagram, reducing the importance of certain groups, pages and research, as well as prohibiting advertising with false information about vaccines.
Facebook then worked on the prevention of suicides. Since November 2017, the platform has been using its artificial intelligence to identify suicide threats or high-risk messages. Technology can mark these messages and then prioritize their content so that administrators can address the danger in a timely manner.
Digital-health 