Facebook partners with Full Fact to help people spot fake news

As part of its effort to help people identify counterfeit messages, Facebook will launch an advertising campaign with the independent charity Full Fact.

As of next month, Facebook users in the UK, Europe, Turkey, Africa and the Middle East will see ads in their feeds that encourage them to think critically about the information they see. They will ask people to consider where information comes from, what is missing, and how they feel about it.

“Emotional content is more likely to make you believe the wrong news,” said Will Moy, chief executive of Full Fact, in a statement on Tuesday. “During this health crisis, life is at stake. If you take a moment before sharing something online, people can stop the spread of harmful and misleading information and protect their friends and families.”

Preventing the spread of misinformation has long been a challenge for social networks, but the outbreak of Corona virus has given the challenge new urgency. For Facebook, the fight against fake news has spread beyond the home feed exchange cycle to private groups dedicated to the distribution conspiracy theories and WhatsApp with its end-to-end encryption, which means it’s difficult to keep track of what people share.

Like Twitter and YouTube, the company has removed a lot of content that violates its policies and has posted warnings to discourage people who may be advertising false information. Improving users’ media literacy – using the ads to encourage them to question what they read – is the newest tool in their workshop.

“With so many ways to consume the news, it can be difficult to make informed decisions about what to read, trust, and share,” said Steve Hatch, Facebook vice president of Northern Europe, in a statement. “This campaign is about asking people three simple questions so that they can challenge the information they read so they can be better informed.”

See also: Don’t want political ads in your Facebook or Instagram feed? You can turn that off