Facebook has announced that it will rank news publishers by trustworthiness based on user feedback.
In a bid to improve the quality of news and repress the spread of fake news on the social networking site, Facebook has announced that it will rank news publishers by trustworthiness based on user feedback. The change, which will go live in U. S next week, is set to be rolled out internationally o
In a bid to improve the quality of news and repress the spread of fake news on the social networking site, Facebook has announced that it will rank news publishers by trustworthiness based on user feedback. The change, which will go live in U. S next week, is set to be rolled out internationally over the coming weeks.
The move comes after Facebook faced a lot of backlash for allowing fake news, propaganda and misinformation to disseminate on its social network. Facebook will ask users if they are familiar with a news source and more importantly, if they trust that news source via surveys. The company will then use the information gleaned from the surveys to rank news organisations.
In a blog post, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said – „There’s too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today. 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. That’s why it’s important that News Feed promotes high quality news that helps build a sense of common ground“.
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„Here’s how this will work. As part of our ongoing quality surveys, we will now ask people whether they’re familiar with a news source and, if so, whether they trust that source. The idea is that some news organizations are only trusted by their readers or watchers, and others are broadly trusted across society even by those who don’t follow them directly“ – he added.
The move is sure to generate controversy as users by and large are not a very reliable source of information. Putting power in the hands of users can cause a lot of chaos and confusion – they can be easily misled and tricked or can simply want false news to be real.
Recently, Mark Zuckerberg announced that news will make up only 4 per cent of content in people’s News Feed, as compared to 5 per cent before. He also promised that Facebook will show lesser unpaid posts from publishers and brands and more content from family and friends.
