In its ongoing effort to stem the misinformation finding its way into users’ streams, Facebook is testing a new I-button that uses Wikipedia entries to give readers context on the source of the news.<\/b>
\nFacebook has been under fire since the 2016 presidential election for the proliferation of fake or slanted news popping up in its feeds and being disseminated to users. As part of its ongoing effort to revamp its process, it is testing a new I-button to links to give readers more information on where the news is coming from.
The information button, when clicked, will pull up a Wikipedia entry for the news source. The whole purpose of the new feature, Facebook said, is to help people make \u00ab\u00a0informed decisions\u00a0\u00bb on what they read and share.
In addition to the Wikipedia entry, users will get trending and related content, and details on how the article is being shared. \u00ab\u00a0Helping people access this important contextual information can help them evaluate if articles are from a publisher they trust, and if the story itself is credible,\u00a0\u00bb the company said.
Facebook will continue to tweak the process by listening to user feedback and working with publishers \u00ab\u00a0to provide people easy access to the contextual information that helps people decide which stories to read, share, and trust, and to improve the experiences people have on Facebook.\u00a0\u00bb
Facebook Product Manager Sara Su acknowledged that the Wikipedia entries can be targeted for abuse given that they can be edited by the public. \u201cVandalism on Wikipedia is a rare and unfortunate event that is usually resolved quickly,\u00a0\u00bb she told TechCrunch . \u00ab\u00a0We count on Wikipedia to quickly resolve such situations and refer you to them for information about their policies and programs that address vandalism.\u201d
While the company continues to modify how news is displayed and from what sources, it obviously still has a long way to go. After the shooting in Las Vegas claimed 59 lives and injured more than 500, Facebook’s Safety Check feature was overrun with related items pointing to fake news.<\/p>\n

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