Facebook Pages Spreading Fake News Won't Be Able To Buy Ads (techcrunch.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Facebook says it's taking another step against Pages that share fabricated news stories. The company has already been working with outside fact-checkers like Snopes and the AP to flag inaccurate news stories. (These aren't supposed to be stories that are disputed for reasons of opinion or partisanship, but rather outright hoaxes and lies.) It also says that when a story is marked as disputed, the link can can no longer be promoted through Facebook ads. The next step, which the company is announcing today, involves stopping Pages that regularly share these stories from buying any Facebook ads at all, regardless of whether or not the ad includes a disputed link. In this case, Leathern said blocking ad-buying is meant to change the economic incentives. Facebook is concerned that "there are Pages posting this information that are using Facebook Ads to build audiences" to spread false news. By changing the ad policy, Facebook makes it harder for companies to attract that audience.

Comments

They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[sethstorm]

Since the people vetting the ads are almost all leftists, it'd be easy for them to decree something as non-fact.

They're vetting themselves.

Re:They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[knightghost]

It'd be nice if CNN would get flagged.

Re: They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[CaptainDork]

Pussy Grabber in Chief tweets Fox and Friends bullshit opinion pieces as fact.

Re:They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[thesupraman]

Ahh, sweet racism, you like that card, dont you? Makes you feel better inside?

Yes, no doubt, it seems to be Republicans blocking people off campuses and controlling who is 'allowed' to speak, doesnt it..

Antifa have just got to work on their wardrobe though, the shirts are BROWN prople, not black!

Re: They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[reboot246]

When you're European and are as left as it's possible to go, then everything is to your right. That's why Nazis get labeled as right wing when clearly to an outside observer, they're left wing. They're only very slightly right of communists.

The left in the United States before WWII recognized Nazis as one of their own. It was only after the war and the world saw what the Nazis did that the left disowned them and started calling them right wing. Read your history, folks. You're being lied to in a big way.

Re:They're neither "outside" nor "fact-checkers"

[JackieBrown]

When you have 24 hours of fake news from CNN followed by a 2 minute "we were wrong but only because the president is so terrible it was easy for us to make that mistake", that is far more damaging than a "far-right" site that has no credibility pushing fake news.

The day that CNN publishes their retractions for the same amount of time that they published the fake news without using the apology as another chance to throw digs at the president will be the day their reputation goes a little up.

Hell, the way they phrase their banner shows their hate "Trump holds economic news conference while Houston floods."

CNN plays all day at my work. Just when I think I'm losing support of Trump, I'll end up in the cafeteria and see those banners and remember that there is an enormous propaganda compain trying to make me feel that way. I really didn't think the press could treat someone worse than Bush Jr (who I am sick of and wish would disappear - him coming out against Trump doesn't make his haters like him and it makes his supporters regret him)

Re:Outsourcing responsibility

[Anonymous Coward]

The couple that runs it admitted over a decade ago that they were biased Al Gore supporters and to not trust them with anything political. I respect them for being honest.

Re:Idiocy

[Plus1Entropy]

You make a good point. God forgetting to put "Thou shalt not fuck children" explains the Catholic Church pretty well.