Facebook Launches Campaign To Help Spot False News

As part of its ongoing commitment in connecting people to accurate sources and combating misinformation, specifically around COVID-19, Facebook will begin rolling out a new on-platform campaign across a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Named ‘Three Questions To Help Stamp Out False News’, this aims to educate and inform users about how to detect potential false news, and was created in consultation with a number of its third-party fact-checking partners.

Delivered on Facebook’s platform, users will see a series of creative and educative adverts, featuring a link to a dedicated website, www.stampoutfalsenews.com which ask users to challenge the information they see on posts by asking themselves the following:

·         Where’s it from? If there’s no source, search for one.

·         What’s missing? Get the whole story, not just the headline.

·         How does it make you feel? People who make false news try to manipulate feelings.

This campaign comes on the heels of last month’s context notification update, which lets people know when the news articles they are about to share are older than 90 days, providing greater visibility and context to help make informed decisions about what to share.

“We know misinformation is an ongoing challenge, which is why we have invested heavily as a business in addressing misinformation, and more recently around COVID-19. We continue to focus on combating this,” says Aïda Ndiaye, Facebook’s Public Policy Manager, Programs and Campaigns, EMEA. “This campaign is just another step in taking our responsibility of improving the accuracy and quality of information on Facebook seriously. We remain committed to working with industry experts and the community on our platforms, to tackle misinformation and empower people with resources that help them decide what to read, share and trust.”