Facebook is facing major heat because of the rising amount of fake news that are being posted, shared, promoted and read by millions of people on the platform.
According to Buzzfeed, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied allegations against the social media site that it influenced the win of Donald Trump in the presidential election by spreading false pro-Trump news articles.
Mark said that to think fake news on Facebook could influence the election is a "pretty crazy idea".
"Part of what I think is going on here is people are trying to understand the results of the election," he added.
"I think there is a certain profound lack of empathy in asserting that the only reason why someone could have voted the way they did is because they saw some fake news."
Mark also said that Facebook has always been doing their best to stop hoaxes and bring to people more meaningful content.
However, Buzzfeed further reported that an unofficial task force has been created on Facebook who is looking into the matter and trying to minimize the amount of fake news from being spreading around.
An anonymous Facebook employee from this task force has stated that it was "crazy" for Mark Zuckerberg to dismiss the idea that Facebook might have influenced elections so easily. The source revealed that the company is well aware of the fact that a large amount of fake news ran wild on Facebook during the entire campaign season.
Another insider from the same task force, who also wishes anonymity, stated that they could be using tools that are already built and in use to stop such harmful viral news.
He also admitted though Facebook encourages people to flag fake news, the guidelines for removing that sort of content is not clear.
According to the insiders, there are many false news which may not directly showcase violent content but one of after effect from consuming such news could create violence.
Thus, even if the news doesn't appear to be violent in plain sight, shouldn't it still be categorized under "violence" guideline and further flagged.
Fake news on Facebook is said to have been influencing people and their mindset on not only just politics but also about other famous personalities, world events, science facts and many other important subject areas.
BBC revealed that a major fake news website The National Report by Allen Montgomery (not a real name) has admitted spreading hoaxes on Facebook and found out that the platform is taking more and more effective measures to flush out such spams.
However, Montgomery also stated that with his nine fake news sites, he is trying to outsmart Facebook censoring.
Therefore it is clear that fake news sites are not going anywhere and if Facebook has been taking measures and changing their algorithm for a better more pure news content, then they must try harder.
And if Facebook knowingly hasn't done their best to stop fake news then it's high time to start right now.
