Gadgetory

Facebook has a plan to fight fake news Facebook's chief executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote a post addressing the recent outcry over the amount of fake news that thrives on the network Zuckerberg said Facebook is exploring a few new solutions now currently Facebook relies on users to report fake news bet you didn't know you have that power did you because Facebook doesn't make it clear but here's how it works when you report a story select the option that says you think it shouldn't be on facebook when asked why select that it's because it's a false news story but in the next step Facebook suggests that you just block the account it came from or send a message to the account that you think they should take it down which is awkward but behind the scenes Facebook is keeping track of these actions and the news feed algorithm pen eliza's the post so it doesn't show up as often in other people's feeds Zuckerberg says his team is working on making this reporting process much easier the network is also creating tools to spot the fakes before they're flagged and work with outside fact-checking organizations Facebook is also exploring another option putting a label next to a story that has been flagged by others as being fake facebook is also making it harder for fake news to hide inside of advertising solving the problem can be tricky Zuckerberg said he doesn't want to go so far as to censor free speech during the u.s. presidential election a number of made-up stories spread online and had a large volume of shares on Facebook some critics suggested this may have tipped the election for people who believe the fake news or that it fed into Facebook's algorithm problem of creating a political bubble filtering posts so you only see things similar to your own worldview based on other things you've clicked and commented on I'm Bridget Carey you can keep up with the biggest tech stories at cnet com