Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is teaming up with fact checkers to flag fake news.
The company has announced that it is partnering up with Snopes, Factcheck.org, ABC News, and PolitiFact to ensure that fake news gets taken off the social media site. Additionally, the fact-checking authorities will work hard to stop a piece that is going viral, or is about to go viral.
The move comes following a slate of articles and data denouncing the large amount of fake news that makes the rounds through social media sites such as Facebook. The move will only target articles that are clearly designed to deceive with misinformation.
These pieces often push one agenda forward, whether it be adding credibility to a political organization, denouncing religious practices, or other fake pieces of data designed to sway the public’s views one way or another.
Facebook has taken a large amount of heat for the company’s failure to address false articles, some of which have been liked and shared hundreds of thousands of times.
The presidential election that recently transpired was especially dirty, with faux writers from both parties finding new ways to knock down the opposition. Some even attribute the Donald Trump’s camp success in the election to waves of false news.
Users can help clean the social media site by reporting news that they deem to be fake.
FB shares gained 0.1% Thursday.
