Facebook cracks down on fakers
JOBURG - FACEBOOK has added a new and rather helpful feature to the popular social networking site.
It now allows users to identify and flag fake news – much like the way they have enabled users to flag pornographic, hateful, malicious, violent, annoying or distasteful Facebook posts and stories.
The aim of the new feature is to reduce the number of scams and hoaxes that appear on Facebook, by creating an algorithm that removes – and effectively reduces the distribution of – an article or post that has been flagged as purposefully deceitful by multiple users. It has been reported that the new feature will not affect posts that are meant to be humorous or satirical.
The feature was met with mixed feelings by users, with some saying it is needed on Facebook in light of false articles claiming that President Barack Obama is funding a Muslim museum.
Other users have expressed concerns about Facebook posts that aren’t popular with the general public and how the policy would affect them – regardless of the nature of the content and whether it may be truthful or not.
