Facebook users to flag up ‘fake news’

FACEBOOK is attempting to tackle the fake news epidemic by allowing users to alert the site to false stories.

The Facebook app will prompt users in 14 countries, including the UK, to read a guide on the “fake news” phenomenon, with a list of tips that include being sceptical about headlines and checking the source of the story.

Facebook has been criticised for failing to banish fake news – stories that are demonstrably false but are written in order to generate internet traffic – from the popular social network.

In November, it was reported that the company had an unofficial task force working on the problem after a Buzzfeed report found there was more engagement on fake news stories around the US election than real news.

However, critics have continued to raise concerns over Facebook’s algorithms, which aim to keep users on the site, affecting the beliefs of its users.

False stories that were shared millions of times on the networking site included a report that Pope Francis had endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and a claim that Hillary Clinton may have been replaced by a body double during the election process.

German politicians are pushing forward laws that could see the company fined up to €50 million (£43 million) for failing to deal with the problem.

While Facebook has experimented with a system of warnings that alerts users to questionable stories, as well as seeking to cut off advertising to sites that trade in fake news, Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s vice president in charge of its news feed, said it wanted to “help people make informed decisions”. “False news is harmful to our community, it makes the world less informed, and it erodes trust,” Mr Mosseri said. “All of us – tech companies, media companies, newsrooms, teachers – have a responsibility in addressing it.”

“We’re exploring ways to give people more context about stories so they can make more informed decisions about what to read, trust and share and ways to give people access to more perspectives about the topics that they’re reading,” he said.

From Friday, a large prompt will appear at the top of the Facebook news feed encouraging users to learn about “false news”. The post will be rolled out over three days and users will only see the message up to three times.

The initial rollout will target the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Myanmar, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, and Canada, but Facebook said it would also look at pushing it out globally.

The firm is notably using the term “false news”. The phrase “fake news” – originally defined as intentionally false news – has been used by Mr Trump in his battles with certain media outlets.