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Facebook is quietly rolling out its first weapon against fake news (FB)
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Facebook users have reported that the social network has started to survey them on the quality of the news appearing in their news feed, The Guardian reports.
One survey question reported by a Facebook user on Twitter was: "To what extent do you think that this link's title withholds key detail of the story?" to which there were five responses available ranging from "not all all" to "completely."
Facebook has not revealed any details on the survey, such as how many users it will appear for, what it will do with the data it collects, or what type of content the survey will appear for.
The tool — seen reported by a user on Twitter below — has appeared at a time when the company is facing an increasing amount of criticism over the role it plays in the spreading of fake news, particularly in how it may have influenced the outcome of the US presidential election. And it follows reports last month that Facebook updated its advertising policies to spell out that its ban on deceptive and misleading content applies to fake news.
Tweet Embed:
https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/804781844105461760
Spotted this survey at the bottom of a Facebook post earlier. Must be part of a crackdown on clickbait. Interesting 🕵🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/wZbLhof9k1
It's no surprise that the company isn't shouting about the new survey — CEO Mark Zuckerberg has previously been extremely dismissive of the idea that fake news played a part in people's voting decisions. Speaking at a conference after the November 8 election, Zuckerberg said: "Personally, I think the idea that fake news on Facebook — it's a very small amount of the content — influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea."
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