A Chrome extension to detect fake news on Facebook

Facebook and Google made clear on Monday that they will not broker advertisements for inclusion on websites and mobile apps that the internet giants have determined display fake or misleading news after some have raised questions about whether either company may have played a role in the presidential election. It has since outlined plans to stop supporting sites hosting fake news posts on their ad network, echoing Google’s plans to pull fake news sites from the Google AdSense program.

About half of adult Americans rely on Facebook as a source of news, a recent study from the Pew Research Center found.

Facebook was accused of supposedly having an huge influence over Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, because of “fake stories” posted on users feed. Though the Menlo Park, Calif., tech giant operates its own advertising service, its more vital goal to fake news sites is its ability to steer traffic to their stories.

The fake stories analyzed by Buzzfeed News also came from hyperpartisan sites that, in their words, “present themselves as publishing real news”. You’d see a story declaring that Hillary Clinton sold weapons to ISIS (false, obviously) trending right alongside one about Barbara Bush urging female voters not to vote for Trump (true).

However, Zuckerberg added, Facebook has also found that people are less inclined to click on links or otherwise check out shared stories that did not line up with their views. And so, yes, forget letting algorithms do all the work. “We value authentic communication, and hear consistently from those who use Facebook that they prefer not to see misinformation”. How many people think the Trump sexual assault scandal is fake?

Hoaxes are as old as human nature – and ALL social media (I’m looking at you, Tumblr and Weibo) and search engines (that means you, Google) can help spread them.

But it would be far too easy to only blame Facebook, Twitter and Google for fake news. Google could maybe rebrand “Google News” as “Articles & Other Miscellany” or “Stories Lots of People Are Reading”.

Another Facebook employee said “hundreds” of Facebook employees had objected to the company’s public position on fake news. “We clearly didn’t get it right, but we are continually working to improve our algorithms”, said a Google spokesperson who was quick to comment on the issue.

Back in 2013, Zuckerberg said he wanted Facebook to be people’s “own personal newspaper”, one that delivers the stories most interesting and important to them.

Facebook is implementing a similar policy, a spokesman said.

Some critics now say Facebook needs to accept that it has morphed into a media company and should start acting like one by vetting its content. Part of the problem, he said in the new book “A Field Guide to Lies”, is our brains have a hard time letting go of past beliefs, even in the face of overwhelming evidence or scientific proof.