Facebook's fight against fake news is actually working. Sort of.
Facebook's promise to fight fake news is finally starting to work. Well, sort of. It depends on where you look.
Almost two years after the company vowed to start taking its fake news problem seriously, some of those efforts are beginning to pay off, even if things aren't moving nearly fast enough for some.
The social network has introduced a new series called "The Hunt for False News," which includes specific examples of widely shared fake news on the platform.
SEE ALSO:7 signs the news you’re sharing is fakeIt's partly a status update on the company's efforts to fight misinformation and partly an effort at instilling a bit more media literacy in users (assuming they think to check Facebook's official blog posts in the first place). The initial post provides three examples of fake news stories that have made the rounds on Facebook over the last several months:
A story titled "NASA will pay you $100,000 to stay in bed for 60 days!" (Spoiler: they won't.)
A video captioned “Man from Saudi spits in the face of the poor receptionist at a Hospital in London then attacks other staff.” (The video was old and originated in Kuwait.)
A photo that falsely identified a man as the attacker who stabbed a candidate in Brazil's upcoming presidential election.
All of the stories were eventually debunked by Facebook's third-party fact checkers and demoted in News Feed. But not before these items were shared. In the case of the fake story about NASA, the story still "racked up millions of views on Facebook," before it was debunked.
"We’re getting better at detecting and enforcing against false news, even as perpetrators’ tactics continue to evolve. And while we caught and reduced the distribution of many pieces of misinformation on Facebook this summer, there are still some we miss," writes Facebook product manager Antonia Woodford.
"We’re getting better at detecting and enforcing against false news, even as perpetrators’ tactics continue to evolve."
On the whole, Woodford says that Facebook is getting better and better at stopping the spread of fake news. Elsewhere, academic studies have also suggested the company's efforts have been paying off. A September study found that websites peddling fake news have seen significant drops in Facebook engagement since 2016 — results Facebook has also touted as proof its fake news initiatives are working.
But while progress may be being made, experts have pointed out that there are still serious issues with Facebook's approach: There simply aren't enough third-party fact checkers to keep up with the constant flood of misinformation, for one.
Consider this, from a story this week in The Wall Street Journal, which detailed the experiences of some of Facebook's fact-check partners, including Factcheck.org (emphasis added):
Out of Factcheck’s full-time staff of eight people, two focus specifically on Facebook. On average, they debunk less than one Facebook post a day. Some of the other third-party groups reported similar volumes. None of the organizations said they had received special instructions from Facebook ahead of the midterms, or perceived a sense of heightened urgency.
Reading this, it's not difficult to understand why it's so hard for fact checkers to address false information before it's widely distributed in Facebook's News Feed. It's always going to be faster to share something that's inflammatory and wrong than it is to professionally debunk it. Which brings up another issue: How many people who see or share a fake news story alsosee its debunking, which can come days or even weeks later?
Facebook has said that it notifies users and page administrators when a story they had previously shared is debunked by a fact checker, but that hardly guarantees they'll actually see the message (particularly in an era when there's an overwhelming amount of spammy Facebook notifications to begin with). It also does nothing to address those who may have seen the original post somewhere on Facebook but didn't turn around and share it themselves.
SEE ALSO:Inside the 'war room' where Facebook is trying to safeguard electionsThese issues are even more amplified in countries where false information is especially prevalent and Facebook is particularly influential. Earlier this month, The New York Timesreported on the impossible task facing Facebook's fact checkers in the Philippines.
There, fact checkers not only can't keep up with the pace of false information, but also, they regularly deal with death threats and other harassment, according to the report.
The same is true in Brazil, where fact checkers are using WhatsApp to try to counter rampant fake news ahead of the country's elections. (These efforts aren't going nearly far enough, according to many experts.)
Facebook, for its part, is aware that it has to keep doing more, even if it can't wipe fake news out entirely.
"Because it’s evolving, we’ll never be able to catch every instance of false news — though we can learn from the things we do miss. As a company, one of our biggest priorities is understanding the total volume of misinformation on Facebook and seeing that number trend downward," product manager Tessa Lyons writes.
So while there is reason to be optimistic about Facebook's efforts to get ahead of fake news, the problem is still far from solved.
Featured Video For You
Facebook's data breach and what it means for you — Technically Speaking
-
12 Sculptures Made From Recycled Materials广州援疆举办第四批广东高校实习支教大学生欢送会Verstappen wins seasonAOC raised $200,000 for charity on her 'Among Us' Twitch stream FridayUpgrade Your Monitor, Not Your GPUNavy deploys Wildcat choppers amid N. Korea submarine threatsN. Korea demands ethnic Chinese pledge allegiance to Kim's familyLego unveils new Colosseum set, it's largest yet, with 9,000+ pieces21 Lost and Lonely CemeteriesDjokovic withdraws from Indian Wells Masters: organizers
下一篇:Slot extends perfect Liverpool start
- ·Project 2025 Comstock Act: Trump’s new abortion comment exposed.
- ·气温又降 市区下雪了
- ·US Department of Energy reports first
- ·Madrid to appear as ‘injured party’ in Barca case
- ·'Hyundai Way': Auto giant's W121tr plan aims to seize mobility market lead
- ·What to expect at WWDC 2019: Power features for everyone
- ·Google cuts off Huawei's Android license amidst U.S.
- ·'This claim is disputed' Twitter meme is here to question your baseless statements
- ·Essential Apps to Install on your Windows PC or Mac
- ·Kitayama seals maiden PGA Tour win at Bay Hill
- ·Basketballer paid fortune in case of mistaken identity
- ·柑茶盛宴!侨宝金装七月果邀你相约“椰城”海口
- ·Carbon neutrality law violates basic rights: Constitutional Court
- ·补短板、强教育!港航集团支持建设粤西乡村学校首座图书楼推进乡村振兴
- ·补短板、强教育!港航集团支持建设粤西乡村学校首座图书楼推进乡村振兴
- ·'Shots Fired' is the most vital show on TV right now
- ·SCOTUS: The courts implementing Project 2025, without Trump.
- ·Why there's bipartisan support for fighting Huawei's 5G ambitions
- ·Marseille catch Rennes napping in Ligue 1 win
- ·Basketballer paid fortune in case of mistaken identity
- ·NASA's new plan keeps Starliner astronauts in space until 2025
- ·Bayern cruise past PSG to reach Champions League last eight
- ·名山县公安局积极开展“开门评警走进110”宣传活动
- ·Osimhen dreams of playing in Premier League
- ·2016's $400 GPU vs. 2019's $400 GPUs
- ·骑上咱的自行车 宣传低碳迎新年
- ·Cheap heat
- ·N. Korea demands ethnic Chinese pledge allegiance to Kim's family
- ·US voices concerns over NK support for Russia prolonging war in Ukraine
- ·赏荷摘李品美食,吃喝玩乐在龙坪
- ·[From the Scene] How ‘world’s first oil town’ is wrestling to become ‘green'
- ·攀高楼 洗污渍 迎新春
- ·Google cuts off Huawei's Android license amidst U.S.
- ·Karamoh's moment of brilliance gives Torino win
- ·Aricell CEO arrested in first case under industrial accidents law
- ·Google adds food delivery to Maps and search results