Facebook employs UK fact-checkers to combat fake news
Facebook has employed a UK fact-checking service to help it deal with the spread of fake news.
Full Fact, a charity founded in 2010, will review stories, images and videos and rate them based on accuracy.
It said that it will focus on misinformation that could damage people's health or safety or undermine democratic processes.
Facebook said it was working "continuously" to reduce the spread of misinformation.
Sarah Brown, training and news literacy manager at Facebook, said: "People don't want to see false news on Facebook, and nor do we. We're delighted to be working with an organisation as reputable and respected as Full Fact to tackle this issue.
In a blogpost, Full Fact explained that users can flag up content they think may be false and its team will rate the stories as true, false or a mixture of accurate and inaccurate content.
It will only be checking images, videos and articles presented as fact-based reporting. Other content, such as satire and opinion, will be exempt.
If something is found to be fake, it will appear lower in the news feed but will not be deleted.
It will be tackling "everything from dangerous cancer 'cures' to false stories spreading after terrorist attacks, to fake content about voting processes ahead of elections", the charity said.
"This isn't a magic pill. Fact-checking is slow, careful, pretty unglamorous work and realistically we know we can't possibly review all the potentially false claims that appear on Facebook every day. But it is a step in the right direction."
:story: BBC News
