Facebook has taken a step forward towards detecting the fake news. The social media giant has decided that it will be sending more suspected hoax stories to fact-checkers and publishing their findings online.
The social media giant has also recently launched a new feature in four countries that will publish alternative news links beneath problematic articles.
The experts of the industry said that the measures did not go far enough.
“Presenting audiences with context is helpful,” an expert said. “But it does nothing to stop the spread of this material, or to stop traffic going to fake news peddlers who are making money out of creating this material,” he further added.
Facebook has previously been reluctant to take down potentially fake news stories, arguing that it does not want to be an “arbiter of truth”.
Instead, it identifies potentially false stories through a mixture of artificial intelligence (AI) and user detection. These are then sent to independent fact-checkers who place a flag next to hoax stories to alert readers.
Now, in a recent announcement, Facebook said that it would start using “updated machine learning” to enhance detection.
“If an article has been reviewed by fact checkers, we may show the fact-checking stories below the original post,” elaborated Sara Su, product manager of News Feed, in a blog.
A spokesman of Facebook later clarified that these stories would not be “direct responses” to fake articles, but factually accurate reports that offered an alternative.
