Facebook has confirmed it will start applying warning labels to “fake news” stories that users share on the social network. This would involve articles seemingly published with the intent to trick people. Facebook said these will be marked with what it called a “flag.”
Below the headline there will be a red label that says “disputed by 3rd Party Fact-Checkers.”
Users will be able to click on a “learn why this is disputed” link to get more information.
According to CNN, Facebook will not be doing the fact-checking itself. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that “we do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties.”
So those third parties will be fact-checking organization that have committed to the International Fact Checking Code of Principles, which was recently established by Poynter, a journalism organization.
Several dozen fact-checking organizations around the world have signed on the code of principles.
from users and journalism advocacy groups to combat the proliferation of so-called “fake news.” While the term has many definitions, and partisans have started to exploit the term, one specific type of “fake news” involves stories that are designed to deceive. One example from the 2016 election: claims that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump.
Mosser said that is the area Facebook is focusing on — “the worst of the worst, the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain.”
These hoaxes have proliferated on Facebook recently, though there is considerable disagreement about how big of a problem it is.
At a recent journalism industry conference, Facebook representatives said that addressing the spread of knowingly fake stories is the #1 priority at the highest levels of the company.
Zuckerberg has said that he does not believe “fake news” stories about the campaign tilted the result of the 2016 election. But in a Facebook post last month, he said “we take misinformation seriously” and pledged that the company would be doing more.
Also on Thursday, Mosseri said Facebook is testing “several ways” to report hoaxes through the site.
“We’ve relied heavily on our community for help on this issue, and this can help us detect more fake news,” he said.
Facebook is also working on reducing the “financial incentives” of posting fake stories, he said
