Weekly New/Digital Media (37)

Facebook to roll out fake news tools in Germany

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38631847 
Summary:

"Facebook is introducing new tools in Germany to help combat the spread of fabricated news stories." 
This is a feature allowing Germany users to flag potentially false stories where third party checkers can assess the validity of the story. If its found to be false (by Correctiv, a German non-profit body who will investigate the story) it will be marked as "disputed" And as a result appear lower down on a users feed. 
This change comes after many claiming false news stories on platforms like Facebook lead to the outcome of the US elections. 

My opinion:

It feels like this would be a move that actively engages audiences potentially making them feel much more active and in control of what happens in the 'world' even if its a small act, it gives the audience power (potential) which would be good for democracy and the company especially with other claims of their data mining etc. which demean their users.
However the outcome does depend vastly on the third party checker and how accountable they will be and the time frame in which they work. Moreover it may be hard to 'disprove' opinion works that may seem like false news stories to users, therefore flagging it would be demeaning their freedom of speech but leaving it would be very controversial for the company. Facebook seems to be facing a lot of criticism recently, is it due to their increasing power? or the audiences increasing power?

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