Donald Trump may have turned the idea of fake news into something of a joke, but there is a serious problem with fabricated stories on Facebook. Conscious of the potential for not only ad revenue through clicks, but also the ability to mould the news narrative,…
Donald Trump may have turned the idea of fake news into something of a joke, but there is a serious problem with fabricated stories on Facebook. Conscious of the potential for not only ad revenue through clicks, but also the ability to mould the news narrative, money-seekers and those with a (usually political) agenda have become skilled in flooding the social network with sensational, scary stories that are simply not true.
Mark Zuckerberg has already talked about his desire to drive the scourge of fake news from his site, and now we can see this plan in action. It’s not quite on the scale of Google’s fact checking regime , but the social network will now flag up potential fake news with a Disputed label, and also provide links to sites that question the veracity of the stories in question.
It feels as though such a simple little addition to Facebook has been a very long time coming.
