Facebook Fighting Fake News
Facebook is rolling out new features to combat fake news on its platform, including flagging disputed stories, following a wave of criticism at the social media giant, reports The Hill.
According to The Hill:
“The new tools include a streamlined reporting process to identify fake news, flagging those stories, improved sharing analytics and steps to tackle spammers.
“The changes were introduced in a blog post Thursday by Facebook vice president of product management Adam Mosseri.
““We believe in giving people a voice and that we cannot become arbiters of truth ourselves, so we’re approaching this problem carefully,” Mosseri wrote.
““We’ve focused our efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations.”
“Under the changes, users will now have an option to report news stories they believe are fake by checking a box.
“But the company is not just relying on crowdsourcing efforts. Mosseri said Facebook would also work with third-party fact checking organizations that are part of the Poynter Institute’s International Fact Checking Network to vet stories.
“If a story is determined to be fake by those groups, it will be flagged as disputed on Facebook, with a linking explaining why.”
