Facebook ‘fake news’ tools risk being abused by the ‘fake news’ brigade

Does nobody at Facebook think before putting a bad idea into practice?

The bosses of the world’s largest social network, stung by accusations that it has been used to peddle ‘fake news’ stories, have rushed new measures onto the site to flag up offenders and potentials.

So an option entitled “It’s a fake news story” has been added to the site’s reporting feature, where people can report spam or offensive messages.

What happens to messages that are reported in such a way? Are they automatically blocked, or what?

Because, you know, Vox Political isn’t a news site – it’s a blog – but I occasionally run stories that are news, generated here. The Freedom of Information story on the deaths of benefit claimants was such a story.

Would Facebook block such a story – a legitimate story – from reaching the public if, say, a right-wing hate-propagandist pushed the button marked “It’s a fake news story”?

The “Disputed” stories option is better. This would refer stories that people claim are fake to third-party fact-checkers, who must sign up to a code of principles.

This could work – if the fact-checkers are adequately vetted and if the source of the story is contacted to provide evidence.

Facebook is also considering attempts to discover if people who read a story but do not share it with friends have been misled by it in some way – I also have doubts about this idea.

Lots of people read Vox Political stories but don’t share them. It’s very frustrating when I want to get something out to the world at large, but it’s also democracy in action. People read it but didn’t think it was worth bothering their friends with the link. Fair enough.

Now, Facebook is suggesting this lack of interest should be an accusation. That can’t be right.

And there’s a possibility Facebook may penalise websites that try to mimic major publishers or mislead readers into thinking they are a well-known news source – but how do you get to be a well-known news source?

Couldn’t this be used by the mass media moguls to keep the new social media pioneers down?

That’s how it seems to This Writer.

How long do you reckon it will be before somebody flags a VP story as fake? I’ll be surprised if it hasn’t happened already.

Source: Fake news: Facebook rolls out new tools to tackle false stories – BBC News

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6 Comments

  1. Neilth December 16, 2016 at 12:41 am - Reply

    Interesting. My local council has been plagued by a daily blogger who puts out heavily spun material every day and only allows certain comments that are usually far right through. He works on the same principles as say the Daily Excess i.e. ‘Why let the facts get in the way of a good story?’. He uses WordPress to blog and has a front page in which he claims to be unbiased. Will I be able to report him for fake news or wrong ‘facts’ under these new rules or is it only if it’s on FB?

    • Mike Sivier December 16, 2016 at 12:44 am - Reply

      Only on FB, I think.

  2. Neilth December 16, 2016 at 12:56 am - Reply

    Bar

    • Mike Sivier December 16, 2016 at 11:49 am - Reply

      Pardon?

      • Neilth December 16, 2016 at 4:16 pm - Reply

        Oops it should have been bgr. Autocorrect to blame

  3. Damien Willey December 16, 2016 at 10:00 am - Reply

    I share on both FB and twitter, so until twitter follow suit, decent, honest articles will get out…..I’m going to have a lot of fun with the Express, Mail, Sun, Guido, Breitbart etc though…..

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