Facebook has vowed to ‘do more’ to stop spreading misinformation
‘It’s important that we keep improving our ability to detect misinformation,’ Facebook stated in a statement released prior to the US election
Some people believe Facebook played a dangerous role in the presidential election by feeding too many people fake news that validated their choice of candidate while vilifying the opponent.
Facebook and its News Feed algorithm is tuned to try and show you stuff you like. It doesn’t necessarily distinguish between fact and fiction. In fact, just last week Buzzfeed documented how Trump supporters were being duped with an onslaught of fake news generated by more than 100 pro-Trump websites run from a single town in Eastern Europe.
This has been called the “filter bubble,” meaning that after awhile, all you see is stuff that you are likely to agree with, and will not see news and other items that may alter, or even just inform, your worldview.
Facebook has been resisting this idea that it has a responsibility to present balanced news in its News Feed as if it was a news organisation or a media company.
But, facing criticisms over the “filter bubble” and the part it may have played in the election, Adam Mosseri, VP of product management at Facebook, repeated to TechCrunch’s Natasha Lomas a previous statement that Facebook is trying to do a better job of filtering out the fake stuff. He said he knows “there’s so much more we need to do.”
Mosseri first gave this statement prior to the election but it seems, perhaps, even more relevant now.
