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Facebook fights fake news with new reporting tool

Posted at 7:03 PM, Apr 25, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-26 01:16:17-04

Fake news and hoaxes are easy to release on social media. Now, Facebook says it's trying to make it easier for users to spot and report them

Recently the social media giant included a pop-up titled Tips for Spotting False News in the news feeds of users in several countries.

Suggestions include:

  • be skeptical of headlines
  • check the dates on articles
  • see if the news is being reported in other credible places

Too little too late? Maybe. But anytime you can bring attention to the facts — like, for example, anybody can buy an ad or set up a bogus website — it's a good thing. Now there is a new tool to quickly flag questionable posts but it does require some work from users.

The little arrow on the right where you report posts now has the option of "It's a false news story."

From there, Facebook says it has a team of fact-checkers to investigate stories and flag them so they don't show in your feed.

So before you share some outrageous article, or buy skin cream or anything else on Facebook, look them up and consider the source because it could be a hoax.