Facebook Plans To Combat Fake News

Facebook is planning to have community reviewers to fact check content posted on the platform

At a time when social media companies have been facing global heat for lack of proper data management system and spread of misinformation, Mark Zuckerberg-owned Facebook has been trying to ramp up its efforts for combating fake news.

Now, the social media giant is planning to have community reviewers to fact check content being posted on the platform. 

According to the official statement, these community reviewers will work as researchers to find information to contradict online hoaxes or corroborate other claims.

The reviewers will not be Facebook employees but will be hired on contract through Facebook partners. 

Currently, the process is under pilot in the US. According to Facebook, combining the expertise of third-party fact-checkers with  community-based reviewers will help them evaluate misinformation faster and remove such content.

For this initiative, Facebook partnered with global public opinion and data company, YouGov,  who conducted an independent study of community reviewers and Facebook users. 

How Will It Work

• Machine learning model will identify potential misinformation using a variety of signals including comments on the post that express disbelief or if a post is being shared by Pages who had spread misinformation in the past. 

• The content will be sent to a diverse group of community reviewers if a post is indicated to have misinformation.

• The community reviewers will be then asked to identify the main claim in the post. They will research and try to find other sources that either support or refute that claim. 

• Fact-checking partners will then be able to see a collective assessment of community reviewers as a signal in selecting which stories to review and rate.

Read more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/344013