Facebook Launches “Trust Indicator” Feature To Fight Fake News

Facebook took another small step this week to fight the spread of fake news, though some experts involved with the creation of the company’s fact-checking tools expressed concern that all of its new features are already failing.

The latest effort from Facebook to combat fake news is the addition of so-called “Trust Indicators” to articles on the site. This new tool, which is currently being tested with a small group of publishers, allows user to click a small “i” next to news stories to learn more about the media outlet behind the story.

“We believe that helping people access this important contextual information can help them evaluate if articles are from a publisher they trust, and if the story itself is credible,” Facebook wrote in a blog post.

However, some of the journalists who are helping Facebook develop these new fact-checking tools expressed concerns this week that their efforts are failing — and that Facebook might be using their work just for good PR.

“I don’t feel like it’s working at all. The fake information is still going viral and spreading rapidly,” one journalist told The Guardian. “It’s really difficult to hold [Facebook] accountable. They think of us as doing their work for them. They have a big problem, and they are leaning on other organizations to clean up after them.”

There’s no doubt Facebook wants to eliminate hoax content from its platform, but it appears to be struggling to accomplish that — and now it’s even getting called out by its own partners.



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