Facebook promised to tackle fake news. But the evidence shows it's not working

Following pressure from users, the social network introduced tools to stem the spread of false information. But the rollout has been rocky at bestWhen Facebook’s new fact-checking system labeled a Newport Buzz article as possible “fake news”, warning users against sharing it, something unexpected happened. Traffic to the story skyrocketed, according to Christian Winthrop, editor of the local Rhode Island website.“A bunch of conservative groups grabbed this and said, ‘Hey, they are trying to silence this blog – share, share share,’” said Winthrop, who published the story that falsely claimed hundreds of thousands of Irish people were brought to the US as slaves. “With Facebook trying to throttle it and say, ‘Don’t share it,’ it actually had the opposite effect.” Related: Bursting the Facebook bubble: we asked voters on the left and right to swap feeds These stories are like flash grenades. If you’re three days late on a fact check, you already missed the boat Related: Facebook announces steps against fake news during general election Related: Defining fake news will help us expose it | Paul Chadwick Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2017-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #fake news #opposite effect #fact check

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Facebook removed over 1.5 billion fake accounts in the last six months

It's been less than a day since the New York Times published a brutal report about the state of affairs at Facebook, including a deep look at the company's failure to properly identify and deal with fake news and Russian interference. The company alr... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2018-11-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook removed #fake news #russian interference


NBC, Fox News and Facebook stop running Trump's anti-immigrant campaign ad

NBCUniversal said Monday that it is pulling President Trump’s controversial anti-immigrant campaign advertisement, hours after the spot ran prominently during “Sunday Night Football.” Fox News said it decided to stop running the commercial as well, and Facebook stopped accepting it as a paid ad,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fox news


Facebook Is Expanding Its Test of a Breaking News Tag to Publishers in More Countries

Facebook is expanding the breaking news tag it began testing in March to more markets and displaying the resulting breaking news label in more countries. The social network kicked off the test in March with more than 50 publishers in North America, Latin America, Europe and Australia. Product... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #latin america


Get your misinformation here! CJR opens 'Fake News Stand' in NYC

Today in New York City's Bryant Park, 9-to-5ers, tourists and other passersby might notice that the magazines at the newsstand on the corner of 42nd Street and 6th Avenue look a bit different. Instead of Time, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and People, they'll see... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #false stories #real world


Publishers on the Rebound: Alternative Channels Show Life After Facebook

The launch of Facebook’s News Feed in 2006 opened an entirely new door for news outlets and lifestyle publishers who jumped at the chance to distribute content, grow audience reach and increase engagement through this new outlet. And, the best part: it was completely free. It was a perfect... Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2018-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #comprehensive picture #sponsored content


Facebook shares more details about its massive security breach -- after blocking people from sharing news about it

The Guardian was among many outlets to write about the huge Facebook vulnerability and attack reported yesterday, and people were understandably keen to share the story on the social network. However, many people found that they were unable to do. Large numbers of Facebook users who tried to... Continue reading at Betanews

[ Betanews | 2018-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook shares #facebook users #sharing news #large numbers


Facebook Started Indexing News Pages to Determine Which Publishers Belong in Its Ad Archive

Facebook announced that it has begun the process of indexing news pages in order to determine which publishers should be included in the Ad Archive that it introduced in June. The Ad Archive, which is available globally, gives people the ability to search for ads related to politics or issues of... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-09-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook announced


Facebook rolls out system to include news publishers in its controversial Ad Archive

Facebook is moving forward with its controversial Ad Archive with a new system that will decide whether to include individual publishers in the archive. The post Facebook rolls out system to include news publishers in its controversial Ad Archive appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook rolls #moving forward


Wednesday Wake-Up Call: Gawker's rebirth, Facebook's new video series and other news

Welcome to Ad Age's Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. You can get an audio version of this briefing on your Alexa device. Search for "Ad Age" under "Skills" in the Alexa app. What people are talking about today: Gawker, the gossip site, is staging... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-09-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #video series #daily roundup #audio version #alexa device #alexa app #gossip site #bryan goldberg


Continuing charm offensive, Facebook creates tool to boost news publishers’ reach on the platform

Facebook has been testing a tool with five publishers including BuzzFeed to help them improve their reach on the platform. The post Continuing charm offensive, Facebook creates tool to boost news publishers’ reach on the platform appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #platform appeared


Facebook exec: media firms that don't work with us will end up 'in hospice'

Campbell Brown, head of news partnerships, tells publishers that without Facebook’s help their businesses will dieA senior Facebook executive told Australian media companies that if they didn’t cooperate with the social network, their businesses would die.According to a report by The Australian,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-08-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook exec #tells publishers #campbell brown #news partnerships #cat videos


'Just use cat videos': New York Times boss wants Facebook to cut out news

Mark Thompson says site’s attempts to rank news outlets sounds like ‘controlled society’Facebook should consider completely removing news from users’ feeds unless it can find a way to avoid low-quality stories clogging up the site, the chief executive of the New York Times has said.Mark Thompson... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-08-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news outlets #news sources #cat videos #mark thompson #closed doors #good books


Facebook Is Committing Another $4.5 Million to Initiatives for News Publishers

Facebook announced Thursday that it is pumping another $4.5 million into Facebook Journalism Project initiatives for news publishers. Global head of news Campbell Brown said in a blog post that Facebook will put $3.5 million toward the Facebook Membership Accelerator pilot program and contribute... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-08-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$1 million #news publishers #global head


Facebook claims subscription test results are ‘promising’ so far, though still small

The platform said that people were 17 percent more likely to subscribe through Instant Articles versus publishers’ standard mobile web links. The post Facebook claims subscription test results are ‘promising’ so far, though still small appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2018-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #small appeared


Facebook creates Orwellian headache as news is labelled politics

Archive of political content becomes batleground between publishers and platformsGeorge Orwell wrote in his essay Politics and the English Language: “In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues.” When Facebook constructed a new archive of... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #english language


Are people becoming less reliant on Facebook for their news? | Paul Chadwick

Two new surveys suggest the public still value traditional news publishersWhen you try to imagine a media diet consisting only of retweets, random blogs or the Facebook posts of family and friends, you grasp the value of journalism created by professional media organisations. Traditional news... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #graduate school #columbia university #healthy democracy


TV news needs more equality – but we also need to tackle abuse

Research shows that progress has stalled, with men still dominating flagship bulletinsAre women more likely than men to go to bed early? It seems worth asking after it emerged last week that while broadcast news programmes have improved their gender balance, men still dominate the flagship... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2018-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #gender balance #research published


Facebook Won’t Exclude News Publishers From Its Political Ads Policy

Facebook head of global news partnerships Campbell Brown explained in a blog post why news publishers will not be exempted from the social network's recent introduced policy on political ads. Facebook announced last month that all election-related and issue ads in the U.S. on both Facebook and... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2018-06-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook won #facebook head #facebook announced #news publishers #political ads


News groups ask Facebook to stop treating media ads like political ads

News organizations want Facebook to stop treating them like political and issues-based advertisers, claiming that the social network's new rules could negatively impact how the public views journalism.On Monday, media advocacy groups addressed a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg requesting that... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2018-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #news sites #american society #digital content


Facebook has already removed 583 million fake accounts this year

Last month, Facebook published its internal community enforcement guidelines for the first time and today, the company has provided some numbers to show what that enforcement really looks like. In a new report that will be published quarterly, Facebo... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2018-05-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #facebook published