Facebook goes after the wrong information information
Facebook says it will punish individuals who repeatedly share the wrong information. The company introduces a new warning that will notify users who repeatedly share false claims can result in “their posts move down at news feeds so that other people tend to see it.”
Until now, the company’s policy is posting down-rance ratings denied by checker facts. But posts can go long viral before being reviewed by a checker of the fact, and there is a bit incentive for users not to share this post in the first place. With that change, Facebook says it will warn users about the consequences of sharing information repeatedly.
Pages that are considered repeat violators will include pop-up warnings when new users try to follow them, and individuals who consistently share the wrong information will receive notifications that their posts may be less visible in the news feed as a result. Notification will also link to the facts to post what is meant, and give users the opportunity to delete posts.
The update came after a year when Facebook had struggled to control the wrong information of the virus about Pandemic Coronavirus, the presidential election and vaccine Covid-19. “Is it wrong or misleading content about Covid-19 and vaccines, climate change, general elections or other topics, we ensure fewer people see the wrong information on our application,” the company wrote in a blog post.
Facebook does not show how many posts are needed to trigger a reduction in news feed, but the company has used the same “strike” system for pages that share incorrect information. (The policy has been a source of controversy after reporting that Facebook officials removed “strike” from the popular conservative page last year.)
Researchers who studied the wrong information showed that often the same individual behind the most viral false claims. For example, recent reports from the center to fight hate digitally found that most anti-vaccine information errors are connected with only 12 individuals.