Tuesday, May 30, 2017

New Facebook tool to report "fake news"

Facebook allows you to report suspicious stories you see in your news feed, but you can also reach out directly to whoever posted the link. Credit the New York Time.

According to "When You See Something (Fake), Say Something," 5/29/2017 article in the New York Times, Facebook has added a new feature.

Here is an excerpt from the story:
When you see a link to a story that contains blatant falsehoods, click or tap the gray menu arrow in the top-right corner of the post. In the menu that drops down, select Report Post. A box appears with the headline “Help Us Understand What’s Happening.”

In the “What’s going on?” section of the box, select “It’s a false news story” and click Continue. On the next screen, Facebook offers a set of options, including “Mark this post as false news.” You can block the person who posted the story or its original website from appearing in your news feed.

You can also report objectionable photos, harassing messages and other bad behavior to Facebook. The details for doing so are on the company’s “How to Report Things” page in its Help Center.

When you report something, Facebook does not automatically take down the item. Facebook reviews your complaint and decides if the offending post violates its own Community Standards rules on hate speech and other behavior. You can check on the status of your report in your Support Inbox (found at https://www.facebook.com/support) on the site.

No comments: