Skip to main content

Report: Facebook has the tools to fight fake news but isn’t using them

facebook fake news roundup zuckerberg facebookf8 0001
Facebook has a fake news problem. The company itself insists fabricated stories account for an insignificant amount of content on its site, but its critics aren’t convinced, and calls for action have only grown louder since election night.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has issued two responses playing down the impact his platform had on the election outcome. His most recent statement reads: “Of all the content on Facebook, more than 99 percent of what people see is authentic. Only a very small amount is fake news and hoaxes. The hoaxes that do exist are not limited to one partisan view, or even to politics.”

Related Videos

A new report alleges the opposite. According to the article, Facebook is concerned about the spread of misinformation on its site via unreliable “news outlets” but feels like it can’t take action at the risk of being labelled biased.

The problem is one of partisanship, sources with direct knowledge of Facebook’s policymaking claim. The news sites in question are “disproportionately” right wing or conservative-leaning in terms of their editorial content, allege the unnamed individuals who spoke to Gizomodo.

Despite creating News Feed updates with the aim of stamping out fake news, Facebook did not implement the changes because it feared “upsetting conservatives,” claim the sources. Meanwhile, media companies including BuzzFeed and The New York Times have brought to light the falsehoods these sites (many of which are based outside the country) have been peddling.

The company’s crippling inability to tackle the issue is allegedly a direct result of an earlier controversy regarding its Trending Topics feed. In May, a number of ex-Facebook employees charged with overseeing its algorithmic system claimed conservative news was being suppressed on the site. The revelation, and its resulting backlash, led to much soul-searching within Facebook. An internal investigation followed, but produced no evidence of systemic bias. Yet it is now being implied that the damage had already been done.

The Trending Topics incident “paralyzed” Facebook’s drive to alter its News Feed in fear of its objectivity once again being questioned, employees recently told the The New York Times. On the other hand, the changes the company has pushed through (including a crackdown on clickbait and an emphasis on “newsworthy” items) have led to it repeatedly being compared to a media company — much to its chagrin.

Facebook said in a statement that it “did not build and withhold any News Feed changes based on their potential impact on any one political party.” It continued: “We always work to make News Feed more meaningful and informative … This includes continuously reviewing updates to make sure we are not exhibiting unconscious bias.”

However, the contradictions in its recent string of statements do the company no favors. Facebook insists fake news on its service had very little impact on swaying the election, but also touts its voter registration drive that resulted in 2 million people registering to vote. The company puts the onus on its users to flag fake content; the same people its CEO claims tune out information they don’t agree with instead of acting on it. These are exactly the types of inconsistencies that continue to mire Facebook in controversy.

To its credit, it has been transparent when modifying its products. This openness should be integral to its fight on fake news, which continues to tarnish its essential News Feed.

Editors' Recommendations

Americans believe that 40 percent of the news is fake
MacOS Mojave News

In 2016, our vocabularies grew to include the term "fake news," and the concept has since taken root in the collective American psyche. A new survey conducted by the Gallup/Knight Foundation found that overall, Americans believe that 39 percent of the news they see on TV, hear on the radio, or read online or in papers is misinformation -- that is, news that is intentionally meant to lead folks astray.

Certain demographics were more likely to be mistrustful of the news, namely Republicans and those who are less educated (having a high school education or less). In total, the survey asked questions of 1,440 randomly recruited Americans.

Read more
What is Facebook doing about fake news? Glimpse inside to find out
facebook fake news facing facts inside feed fb ff posterscreengrab 1440x810 v3a 1 copy

Facebook is facing a steadily increasing amount of criticism, and the platform is countering with a glimpse at what’s going on behind closed doors. On Wednesday, May 23, Facebook shared a short documentary video called Facing Facts that looks at how the organization is fighting fake news. The film is the first from a new initiative called Inside Feed that aims to share some of the lesser-known details of what happens inside the company.

The documentary, made with the help of filmmaker Morgan Neville, doesn’t make any startling revelations outside of efforts the platform has already shared. But, the video shares insight into how the company is tackling misinformation and what, exactly, that effort looks like. The effort explores how Facebook defines misinformation, along with the gray areas, or the content that isn’t exactly against the Community Standards but isn’t exactly morally upstanding either.

Read more
Social Feed: Facebook asks for hate speech help; YouTuber in jail for fake news
how to backup an iPhone without iTunes

Social media is a fluid technology — nearly every day, the major networks are announcing a big change, coming under fire for the latest controversy or moving forward in smaller ways. Social Feed is a collection of those smaller changes that you may have missed with this week’s biggest news -- like Facebook’s long list of F8 announcements, Twitter’s news update, Snapchat’s slowed growth, group video calls for What’s App and Instagram, and Instagram’s payments test. Find Social Feed every weekend for the latest social news tidbits.
Just how long did Facebook users watch that video? New metrics rolling out for creators
Creatives on Facebook are gaining enhanced tools to see just how long their video held viewer’s attention. On Thursday, May 3, Facebook shared additional metrics added to the existing video retention data inside Pages. The enhanced tool now includes a comparison between users that follow the Page and users that don’t, along with adding gender demographics. The update will also allow for a more detailed look at the charts with a zoom option. Facebook also said they fixed a bug that caused some inaccurate data for videos past two minutes.
YouTuber gets a month in prison for fake news
Malaysia has a new law against fake news -- and now the first person prosecuted under that law is incarcerated, according to The Guardian. YouTuber Salah Salem Saleh Sulaiman pled guilty after posting a video misrepresenting police response time to a death in Malaysia’s capital -- claiming 50 minutes rather than the eight police reported. The YouTuber apologized during the hearing. The judge ordered him to pay a fine of 10,000 ringgit (about $2,537), but the Guardian said he opted for a month in jail “because he could not pay.”
Facebook test asks users for help spotting hate speech

i mean this is hilarious pic.twitter.com/GDtUsrrlzU
— Gene Park (@GenePark) May 1, 2018

Read more