Facebook to start fact-checking photos and videos in fake news crackdown
Facebook will start fact-checking photos and videos as it ramps up efforts to tackle fake news and misinformation.
The tech giant began fact-checking articles on its site last year after accusations Russian agents used the platform to spread fake news and propaganda to influence the US presidential election.
Third-party human reviewers will now begin fact-checking photos and videos published on the site across 17 countries.
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Product manager Antonia Woodford said photos and videos were easy for “bad actors” to manipulate.
She said: “People share millions of photos and videos on Facebook every day.
“We know that this kind of sharing is particularly compelling because it’s visual.
“That said, it also creates an easy opportunity for manipulation by bad actors.”
Facebook has built a machine learning model that will use “engagement signals”, such as feedback from users and comments, to flag up potentially fake news.
The identified content will then be sent to a reviewer, who will use “journalistic” practices – such as research from experts, academics or government agencies – to assess its truth, the company said.
Facebook's product manager, Tessa Lyons, said: “Misinformation can show up in articles, in photos, in videos.
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“The same false claim can appear as an article headline, as text over a photo or as audio in the background of a video.
“In order to fight misinformation, we have to be able to fact-check it across all of these different content types.”