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Fake news is down on Facebook in the US and France, say three studies
Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook have not had a great year. From being called in front of Congress to getting lashed by the media for its appalling handling of user data, the pressure has been on the social media site to get things right. Even calls for Zuckerberg to be kicked out as chairman are starting to percolate. But Zuckerberg might be able to breath a little easier today as three new independent studies show that fake news overall is going down on the website he launched from his dorm room.
Facebook’s approach to fighting fake news is half-hearted
Earlier this week, Facebook hosted a group of reporters (myself included) at its NYC office for a Q&A session about its efforts to fight fake news. The event, led by Head of News Feed John Hegeman and News Feed product specialist Sara Su, began with Facebook showing us a short film called Facing Facts. It's a documentary that debuted last May, which tells the story of the company's uphill battle to rid its site of a misinformation plague that seems incurable. For months, Facebook has talked about how hard it is working to fix the issue (by hiring third-party fact-checkers, removing fake accounts and more), but on Wednesday it left us with more questions than answers. That's because Facebook believes reducing and flagging fake news stories is better than removing them altogether, and that doesn't seem like the best approach.
Facebook's new media guidelines are focused on stopping fake news
Facebook came under fire after it admitted that it published 3,000 Russian-linked advertisements designed to influence the US Presidential Election. Those ads pointed to Pages that trafficked in fake news, which has been one of the social network's biggest problems for quite a while. Now, the company has listed a new set of guidelines for publishers/media organizations meant to combat false info from being spread on the platform. Those guidelines come with actionable strategies they can follow to avoid being flagged, as Facebook continues to tweak News Feed's algorithm to be better at burying fake information.
Facebook purges thousands of fake profiles ahead of UK election
Facebook has doubled its efforts to tackle fake news in the UK. As the nation heads towards a snap general election, the company has removed "tens of thousands" of accounts which it believes were involved in the spread of misinformation. The crack-down is attributed to new detection tools, first announced in April, which can spot suspicious patterns of activity, including repeat posting and sudden spikes in post volume. Tackling these bogus accounts will, as a byproduct, curb the spread of spam, fake news and other "deceptive content," Facebook claims.
The UK is worried fake news will impact General Election result
UK politicians are worried fake news will have an impact on the outcome of the General Election in June. Speaking with The Guardian, Damian Collins, a Conservative MP and the chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee, has warned that misleading information threatens "the integrity of democracy in Britain." Voters need to be reliably informed, and false reporting could affect their decision at the ballot box. "The risk is what happened in America," he said. "The top 20 fake news stories in the last three months of the election were shared more than the top 20 most shared stories that were true."
Wikipedia co-founder launches Wikitribune to fight fake news
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales hopes to tackle fake news with a journalism outfit of his own. Wikitribune will be free to access and use crowdfunding to hire experienced reporters. They'll work alongside volunteers who can sub-edit articles, fact-check stories and suggest new topics for the site to pursue. "This will be the first time that professional and citizen journalists will work side-by-side as equals writing stories as they happen, editing them as they develop, and at all times backed by a community checking and rechecking all of the facts," Wales said.
