Facebook to prioritize original sources in fight against fake news

Facebook is at a turning point in its history. With the US presidential election approaching, the social network is desperate to Not making the same mistakes as in 2016 Where its system is being abused for political purposes. This includes combating misinformation, and this new measure follows that trend.

Facebook has announced that it will prioritize informative articles in users’ news feeds. For example, if several articles cite a particular media outlet as a source and repeat information, the latter will appear first For now, this system only applies to English-language articles, but Facebook says it works in other languages ​​as well. But the company is trying to reassure by confirming that articles published by media you or your friends follow will always take precedence in the classic news feed.

Eliminate ideological articles

This decision actually aims to destroy those who transmit false news. Some unscrupulous sites do not hesitate to take real information and they twist it to fit their own ideology. That’s exactly what the channel, which has been walking on eggshells this presidential year, is trying to avoid.

Moreover, Facebook will attempt to give less visibility to sites that distribute unsigned content. or that lack transparency regarding the identity of their authors. The sites targeted are, of course, those that circulate fake news for political purposes. The company confirms that professional sites, whether content writers or simply reporters, will not see a difference in their traffic. The fake news sites are actually being targeted here.

Facebook is doing everything to improve its image. The company has taken various measures to prevent another fiasco worthy of Cambridge Analytica. For example, propaganda articles are now marked. Similarly, old news is marked as “old”. Moreover, the company decided to launch a broad information campaign about the presidential election.

Will that be enough? We’ll see.