In its fight against fake news, Facebook has announced two changes that it hopes will help ensure the accuracy of information on its platform and shed more light on how people decide what information is accurate or not.
Facebook has been on the warpath with fake news for over a year now. And it’s actually been doing quite a lot in the past year to help ensure that the information its users get, is as accurate as possible. After all, accurate information generates meaningful conversations, which Facebook loves. False news undermine the ability to connect. But fearing that it will be criticised as a censor, Facebook needs to tread carefully. So now, instead of identifying false news with Disputed Flags, it will rather use Related Articles “to help give people more context” about a story.
Facebook started using Disputed Flags in March as a method of flagging false news, but recent academic research has found that “putting a strong image, like a red flag, next to an article may actually entrench deeply held beliefs.” This has exactly the opposite effect of what Facebook intended.
So, instead of Disputed Flags, Facebook is now favouring the use of Related Articles, that, “by contrast, are simply designed to give more context.” In this respect, Facebook’s research shows that context is a much more effective way to help people determine the facts. It actually found, that showing “Related Articles next to a false news story leads to fewer shares than when the Disputed Flag is shown.”
The second update relates to a process of understanding “how people decide whether information is accurate or not based on the news sources they depend upon.” It’s an initiative that will help Facebook better measure its success in improving information on its platform, and will not be directly impacting News Feed for the time being.
Facebook says that it’s constantly “investing in better technology and more people to help prevent the spread of misinformation” and overall, I think we can agree that it’s doing a pretty good job. One of its best weapons, is “demoting false news” that have been identified as such by fact-checkers. As Facebook explains, “demoted articles typically lose 80 percent of their traffic. This destroys the economic incentives spammers and troll farms have to generate these articles in the first place.”
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook And Instagram Dropping Embedded Content Support On WordPress Sites
Facebook and Instagram embedded content will soon break on WordPress websites unless owners generate an app ID with a developer …
3 Courses To Help You Create Compelling Facebook Ad Visuals
Here are three free Facebook Blueprint courses that will help you create more impactful ad visuals that get your audience's …
Facebook Bans Holocaust Denial Content
Facebook has announced an update to its hate speech policy, banning Holocaust denial content on its platform.
Facebook Removes 28-Day Attribution Model From Ads
Late last month, Facebook announced it's removing the 28-day attribution window in Facebook Ads. The change is effective as of …
Facebook Bans QAnon Across Its Platforms
Facebook is banning QAnon-related Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts, even if they don't contain violent content.
Facebook Brings Netflix, Zoom, And More Features To Portal
Facebook has announced it's bringing Netflix, Zoom, new titles to its Story Time library, AR stories, and more to its …
Facebook NPE Forecast App Is Now Open To Everyone In The US And Canada
After launching its Forecast app in June, Facebook NPE is now making the app available to all users in the …
Facebook Expands Brand Collabs Manager To Public Groups
Facebook is starting to expand Brand Collabs Manager (BCM) to include Public Groups in a bid to help communities collaborate …
Facebook Announces New Community Management Certification
Facebook has created a new Facebook Community Manager Certification Program available to users through Facebook Blueprint.
