Facebook to 'Address' the Fake News Problem

You’ve probably heard the Democrats blaming “fake news” for Donald Trump’s victory. And while the media is rife with fake news, that isn’t the reason Hillary lost.

As we wrote in a previous article, the American media gave up on real, objective news a long time ago.

Facebook – on which many young people depend for their news nowadays – has been criticized for the way it handled (or failed to handle) the torrent of fake news that surfaced during the 2016 elections.

“I think the idea that fake news on Facebook influenced the election in any way is a pretty crazy idea,” said Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

But after a man opened fire on a DC pizzeria after reading a fake news story about Hillary Clinton, Zuckerberg decided to take action.

The social media site will now work with the Poynter International Fact-Checking Network to evaluable news articles. “Disputed” stories will come with warning messages and users will have more options to report fake posts.

Flagged stories will be pushed lower in the news feed than “real” stories, and people who try to share debunked stories will see a warning message before they post.

“We have a responsibility to reduce the spread of fake news on our platform,” says Adam Mosseri, Facebook’s vice president of product development.

“We’ll have to wait and see early results to determine how effective the strategy is,” says Poynter’s Alexios Mantzarlis. “In my eyes, erring on the side of caution is not a bad idea with something so complicated.”

Donald Trump’s victory proved just how corrupt the American media has become. While Zuckerberg may have good intentions in mind, it is arrogant for him to believe that his strategy will make a difference.

Neither Facebook nor “fact checking outlets” have any clue whether news is real or not, and this could quickly turn into liberal censorship.

Editor’s note: This is such a dangerous precedent. Are they going to depend on the liberal news outlets and left leaning fact checking organizations.

While abuse is certainly rampant, the internet is supposed to provide for a free exchange of ideas. Up until the election occurred, there were many claims that polls were biased and Trump would win. it could easily have been dismissed as fake news.

We don’t let the government censor our news, in fact the First Amendment prevents it. Should we allow Facebook to censor our news?