Facebook is doing a little more to combat the spread of fake new over its platform. The company has announced a new educational guide in an attempt to teach people how to spot fake news and be more skeptical about whatever it is they read on social media.
This guide is generally a wall of text explaining the concept of fake news and how to spot it. There’s also a very short guide on how to report fake news on Facebook. And that’s all there is to it. Facebook says that it works with First Draft, a non-profit organisation working to improve standards for online reporting and journalism.
Facebook has also outlined what it sees as the key areas to focus on while combating fake news. The three areas are to reduce the economic incentive to spread fake news, building new products to curb the spread of the false information, and to educate users on how to spot it.
Interestingly, the areas do not touch on the topic of using fake news to influence public perception. Which happens to be the main reason that governments are concerned about the spread of fake news. Particularly when accusations of Russia using fake news to affect the outcome of the US elections are still floating around.
Still, this is at least another step in the right direction. Especially against clickbait style websites that create fake news stories to earn money. Every little bit helps at this point.
[Source: Facebook]
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