Facebook will take new steps to reduce misinformation on its platform by censoring posts from users who repeatedly share content that fact-checkers have debunked.
“Whether it’s false or misleading content about COVID-19 and vaccines, climate change, elections, or other topics, we’re making sure fewer people see misinformation on our apps,” Facebook said in a press release Wednesday.
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The social media giant said it will reduce the distribution in the News Feed of posts from individual users who have repeatedly shared content rated as falsehoods or misinformation by Facebook’s fact-checking partners. Facebook will also begin alerting people if they “like” a page that has continually shared false claims.
Additionally, Facebook redesigned its notifications to alert people when they share content that has been debunked, so others are less likely to see it on their News Feed. Those notifications will include information explaining what is false, the company said.
Facebook noted it already reduces “a single post’s reach in News Feed if it has been debunked.”
The social media giant began its fact-checking program in 2016. It partners with third-party fact-checking organizations certified through the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network to identify, review, and take action on content called into question.
In the United States, Facebook employs approximately 10 fact-checking organizations, including two entities associated with conservative news outlets, CNN has reported.
Republicans claim Facebook and other major social media platforms have an anti-conservative bias when implementing content moderation practices.
However, reports last year showed conservatives were not constrained by Facebook’s fact-checkers and were still able to spread falsehoods before the 2020 election.
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Facebook also repeatedly overruled its own fact-checkers to ensure they did not punish conservative outlets for spreading misinformation, NBC News reported. The social media company sought to avoid the public relations risk of angering high-profile conservatives and their followers online.
