Fixing Facebook: users will be asked to rank most reliable news sources in campaign to drive out ‘fake news’
British lawmakers probing possible Russian interference in the Brexit referendum revealed this week that Facebook agreed to broaden its own investigation into fake news around the vote
Facebook announced on Friday it will ask its 2 billion users to rank their trust in news sources, in its latest attempt to combat the spread of misinformation on the social network.
The change comes as the online giant seeks to address charges that it has failed – along with Google and Twitter – to prevent the spread of bogus news, most strikingly ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
In a Facebook post, co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the network would seek to “prioritise news that is trustworthy, informative, and local”.
“There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarisation in the world today,” Zuckerberg said. “Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them.”
The new “trusted sources” ranking, which starts next week, would aim to “make sure the news you see is high quality” and “helps build a sense of common ground” rather than sow division, Zuckerberg said.
There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarisation in the world today
To do so, he said, Facebook decided to rely on member surveys as the most “objective” way to rank trust in news sources.