Facebook drops ‘disputed’ flag and commits to speeding up ‘fake news’ response

December 22, 2017 8:22

Social media giant Facebook will be dropping its “disputed” flag on contentious posts while speeding up its fight on verifying news stories as part of its effort to fight the viral spread of fake news, the company has announced.

Posting on the company’s newsroom site, product manager Tessa Lyons described how the service will no longer be flagging contentious news posts as ‘disputed’ but instead will be placing related stories alongside dubious articles to counter potentially false statements.

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Paul Wallbank

Paul Wallbank was news editor at Mumbrella between June 2017 and June 2019. Previously he's covered business and technology issues for outlets ranging from The Australian and Sydney Morning Herald to the ABC and Business Spectator.

Topics

Dan Zigmond Facebook fake news journalism

2 COMMENTS

Open your eyes 27 Dec 17

The problem is Facebook. For all the UGC, private and personal information it is given from it’s blind users what value does it deliver? It is a scam and we all know it but lack the courage to deactivate, opt out and move on.

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Damien 30 Dec 17

Why doesn’t Facebook partner with news organisations to increase the spread of real stories?

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