Today Facebook begins fighting misinformation with news literacy education, in addition to product features. This week, users in 14 countries, including the U.S ., will see an alertabove the News Feed several times in the course of the coming few days that links them to Facebooks Help Center where they can read Tips to Spot False News. Written while working with news criteria nonprofit First Draft, these tips include being skeptical of sensational headlines and checking for phony URLs.
Notably, Facebook is labeling the scourge false news instead of the more popular term fake news. The corporation tells me this is because fake news has taken on a life of its own, and false news more accurately transmits that its talking about intentionally false content that tries to be confused with legitimate news. After all, Donald Trump has begun labeling as fake news any rulings or facts with which he disagrees.
Facebook VP of News Feed Adam Mosseri writes Its not a new phenomenon, and all of us tech companies, media companies, newsrooms, educators have a responsibility to do our part in addressing it.
Unfortunately, Facebook could have stimulated these tips much easier to ingest and more likely to be read if it had just hosted them inside the News Feed alert itself. By instead associating out to the Help Center, the alert is likely to be repeatedly ignored by some, while others wane to wait for an outside website to load.
The alert at the opening of the News Feed links out to the Facebook Help Center where users to be able to read 10 tips for spotting false news
Heres the listing of tips users will find if they click through the link 😛 TAGEND
Be skeptical of headlines. False news narratives often have catchy headlines in all caps with exclamation phases. If shocking asserts in the headline sound unbelievable, they probably are. Look closely at the URL. A phony or look-alike URL may be a warning sign of false news. Many false news sites mimic authentic news sources by making small changes to the URL. You can go to the website and compare the URL to established sources. Investigate the source. Ensure that the story is written by a source that you trust with a reputation for accuracy. If the story comes from an unfamiliar organization, check their About section to learn more. Watch for unusual formatting. Many false news sites have misspellings or awkward layouts. Read carefully if you read these signs. Consider the photos. False news narratives often contain manipulated images or videos. Sometimes the photo may be authentic, but taken out of context. You can search for the photo or image to confirm where it came from. Inspect the dates. False news narratives may contain timelines that attain no appreciation, or event dates that have been altered. Check the evidence. Check the authors sources demonstrated that they are accurate. Lack of proof or reliance on unnamed experts may indicate a false news story. Look at other reports. If no other news source is reporting the same story, it may indicate that the story is false. If the story is reported by multiple sources you trust, its more likely to be true. Is the story a gag? Sometimes false news narratives can be hard to distinguish from humor or irony. Check whether the source is well known for lampoon, and whether the storys details and tint propose it may be just for fun. Some narratives are intentionally false. Suppose critically about the narratives you read, and simply share news that you know to be credible.
