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Getting the truth is challenging enough without seeing fake news stories in your Facebook News Feed. If your friend posts a fake news story, it may be an innocent mistake. But if you share that story with others, you may be spreading information that just isn’t true.
Facebook has started rolling out a program that shows an alert when the truth of a news story has been disputed by third-party fact checkers. The company has also made it easier for users to dispute a news story.
This video from Facebook introduces the new update Facebook is launching for flagging fake news. The video was released in December, when Facebook first announced it was testing this feature:
Facebook’s new approach to battling fake news has four parts. Each is designed to help users identify when a shared article is not true.
Flagging Stories as Disputed
Facebook has started to work with third-party fact checking organizations to help determine whether a disputed story is true or false. These third parties have pledged to abide by the Poynter Organization International Fact Checking Network Code of Principles to verify news stories.
When these third-party fact checkers dispute the truth of a story, Facebook will not block the story from News Feeds, but instead flag the story as being disputed.
Facebook is flagging links to fake sites now, looks like: pic.twitter.com/N7xaWDkdYA
— Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) March 3, 2017
A link to an explanation about why a story is disputed will be included. Click on the three vertical dots … next to the story to see a link to the explanation.
From Facebook:
“To see why a news story was marked as disputed on Facebook:
- Hover and click underneath the disputed story.
- Click About Disputed Stories, or go directly to the independent fact-checking website.”
Facebook may also put disputed stories lower in News Feeds.
You can share a story that has been flagged as disputed, but you will get a warning from Facebook.
Easier Reporting That a Story on Facebook Is Fake
Facebook is making it easier to report a story as fake.
From Facebook:
“To mark a news story as fake:
- Click ∨ next to the post you’d like to mark as fake
- Click Report post
- Click It’s a fake news story
- Click Mark this post as fake news“
You can also send a message to your friend who posted the false story, letting him or her know the story has been disputed. Or, you can block that friend.
Facebook Software
The update includes software that helps Facebook identify stories that may be in dispute. If many people read an article but few share it, Facebook may tag that article for verification by the third-party fact checkers.
Disrupting Financial Incentives for Spammers
Sometimes spammers will spread false stories on Facebook to try to get readers to click onto their ads. After an article has been flagged as disputed by Facebook, that article can no longer be promoted in News Feeds or in Facebook ads.
What Else You Need to Know
The process for labeling a news story as disputed takes a while so don’t assume a story is true just because you see it on Facebook and it hasn’t been flagged as disputed.
This update to Facebook is rolling out slowly so you may not see flagged stories in your News Feed immediately.
Your Thoughts
Have you seen stories on Facebook that have been flagged as being disputed? Have you reported news stories you’ve seen in your News Feed as being false? Do you agree with Facebook’s approach to identifying fake news stories?
Share your thoughts in the Comments Section below!
* Facebook Glasses courtesy of geralt via Pixabay and Creative Commons
** Newspaper image (edited) courtesy of Open Clipart Vectors via Pixabay and Creative Commons
Finally!
I can’t tell you how many times I received warnings about women being attacked which turned out to be totally disputed by Snopes.com. I have a real issue with chain letters of any sort, and to me, these widely distributed fake stories, passed off as friendly advisories, are nothing but chain letters in disguise.
This move by FB is great news!
Hi Carolyn,
I am sure this will be a major help for everyone. We can easily prevent ourselves from spreading false news as you have rightly mentioned. This was a long time coming and finally we see it. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Hey Carolyn,
Facebook is taking a step further to provide better and real news. Most of the time, I read about many people being killed and tortured etc.
It’s really sad how people spread the fake news. Thankfully, Facebook users will be safe.
I will surely try it.
~Ravi
Hi Carolyn,
I love to read all news about Facebook and YouTube. You have written a very important and interesting news about Facebook.
But it is a matter of sorrow that this feature is not available to everyone yet. It is not going to be done in my account.
However, Thanks again for sharing the nice post.
With Best Regards,
Salauddin Bepari.
Hi Salauddin, Yes, this update is rolling out slowly, probably so it can be tested and refined before everyone gets it. I don’t have it yet, but I look forward to the day that I get it!
Yay Carolyn! Thanks for this!
I don’t know how you keep up with all of this stuff but I’m glad that you do – and that you share it!
Lori
Thank you, Lori. I do need to keep up with tech news so I can share with Wonder of Tech readers what they need to know. Not all tech stories can affect your daily life, but I try to write about the ones that do.
Unfortunately there will always be fake news, check it all seems very difficult, many people use these systems to generate traffic of visitors and advertising…
Hi Sondaggi, Yes, it would be easy for Facebook to just give up and put the burden on its users to figure out what news is fake. But that hasn’t been working so I hope this solution helps identify fake news on Facebook.