Facebook blocks advertising for fake news sites
Facebook is stepping up its campaign against those who spread misinformation: Page administrators who have repeatedly shared content that has already been called into question will no longer be allowed to run ads on Facebook.
This was announced by Facebook managers Satwik Shukla and Tessa Lyons in a blog entry on Tuesday. This innovation will help further reduce the spread of false news, as further distribution by page operators in this way will become uneconomical, the blog entry said. "We've seen that there are page operators who use ads on Facebook specifically to build a large audience, and therefore a larger reach for false news."
Previously, Facebook had already blocked ads promoting individual stories and content whose truthfulness had already been questioned by independent fact-checkers. With the new policy, Facebook is now going one step further. Page operators who have attracted attention as systematic fake news spreaders will generally no longer be able to advertise themselves on Facebook in the future. Even ads for non-fake content would then no longer be possible if the operators have previously attracted negative attention.
However, Facebook also allows page operators to return to the advertising system: "If the pages refrain from further dissemination of false news, this restriction is lifted again," the blog post says. Facebook has been criticized for months because false reports have been circulating there again and again. For example, the world's largest social network has been accused of using fabricated or manipulated news to help Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential election. (SDA)
