Facebook is working on exempting opinion and satire from its fact-checking program. Wall Street Journal mentioned that publishers that get their content flagged by these checkers will have the option to appeal to Facebook.
This news comes at a time when Facebook is already dealing with accusations of political bias (which it has continually denied) and trying to tackle misinformation on the platform. According to the social media giant, it doesn’t take down false news entirely but somehow displays it lower in the Feed noting that there is a difference between false news and satire or opinion.
When a content piece is lined up to get reviewed, Fact-checkers are presented with nine rating options including Satire and Opinion. However, only such content is affected that is factually inaccurate, includes a false headline or is misleading in any form.
Fact-checkers such as Rappler and Politifact brought up their issues with this approach to The Wall Street Journal and stressed that these changes could give publishers more of an opportunity to spread misinformation. On the other hand, Facebook has had its fair share of controversies as well stemming from the decisions made by fact-checking programs regarding the Washington Examiner and other groups.
The social media giant took its time to issue a comment on the ongoing situation and said that it will keep on excluding politicians from its third-party fact-checking methods as their speech is deemed as newsworthy content.
However, Facebook’s former head of content standards Dave Willner opposed the company’s stance and said that exempting politicians from the process is an act of cowardice. This was reported by Wired earlier this week as Willner’s post’s privacy was set to Friends.
Illustration: FB NewsRoom
Read next: Facebook Messenger’s Role in Increased Online Child Abuse: A Report by New York Times
This news comes at a time when Facebook is already dealing with accusations of political bias (which it has continually denied) and trying to tackle misinformation on the platform. According to the social media giant, it doesn’t take down false news entirely but somehow displays it lower in the Feed noting that there is a difference between false news and satire or opinion.
When a content piece is lined up to get reviewed, Fact-checkers are presented with nine rating options including Satire and Opinion. However, only such content is affected that is factually inaccurate, includes a false headline or is misleading in any form.
Fact-checkers such as Rappler and Politifact brought up their issues with this approach to The Wall Street Journal and stressed that these changes could give publishers more of an opportunity to spread misinformation. On the other hand, Facebook has had its fair share of controversies as well stemming from the decisions made by fact-checking programs regarding the Washington Examiner and other groups.
The social media giant took its time to issue a comment on the ongoing situation and said that it will keep on excluding politicians from its third-party fact-checking methods as their speech is deemed as newsworthy content.
However, Facebook’s former head of content standards Dave Willner opposed the company’s stance and said that exempting politicians from the process is an act of cowardice. This was reported by Wired earlier this week as Willner’s post’s privacy was set to Friends.
Illustration: FB NewsRoom
Read next: Facebook Messenger’s Role in Increased Online Child Abuse: A Report by New York Times
