Home
Social networking
Social networking News
Facebook Germany Announces Fake News Offensive Ahead of National Election

Facebook Germany Announces Fake News Offensive Ahead of National Election

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 16 January 2017 09:59 IST

Highlights

Facebook was recently criticised for fake news floating on its platform
Facebook recently announced its Journalism Project to curb this
Analysts from US had earlier claimed that fake news led Trump win

Social media giant Facebook announced Sunday that it will introduce new measures to combat fake news in Germany, as Europe's largest economy and most populous nation enters an election year.

"It's important to us that the reports and news posted on Facebook are reliable," a blog post on the Silicon Valley firm's German website read.

German politicians have warned that populist parties and foreign nations could use fake news to try and influence parliamentary elections slated for September or October.

Facebook's new German initiative targets "unambiguously wrong reports" being shared on the social media platform.

Facebook Tackles Fake News With New Tools

The firm said it would offer a simpler reporting process for users to flag suspected fake news, display warnings next to statements identified as false by independent fact-checking organisations, and cut off advertising revenue to fake news sites presenting themselves as real news organisations.

Stories flagged with a fake news warning will not be eligible to be converted into an ad seen by other users or "promoted" into other users' feeds for a fee.

"We think that independent and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument for journalism," Facebook said.

Nonprofit investigative journalism organisation Correctiv will be the first fact-checking partner in Germany, the firm added, saying that they are "confident" of adding other news organisations in future.

Facebook's latest measures come just days after it announced the creation of a "Journalism Project" aimed at boosting the credibility of the information it circulates.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.