LONDON- Facebook has announced they are asking users in Europe which news sources they trust, they asking this on whether they can change its News Feed that it made in the US earlier this year, it is designed to filter out misinformation.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in January that News Feeds, would prioritize “high quality news” over less trusted sources, this is the companies attempt to fight against false and fake news and information.
Facebook has been highly criticized since the 2016 presidential elections in the US, where fake and false news, circulated allegedly by Russian operatives, the goal was to sway the election for Donald Trump to win by spreading fake information of Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party.
The number one social media platform has been criticized by notable news organisations of not tackling the problem hard enough, especially news sites that prioritize political news and lean to a political ideology.
Zuckerberg admitted in January that, “sensationalism, misinformation and polarisation” in the world, particularly on social media was making the problem worse.
He wrote, “Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don’t specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them.”
The company on Thursday will start a two-month survey of their users in Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, the survey will ask if they are familiar with particular new sources, such as the Guardian, or BBC News and which ones they trust.
Facebook will release the findings and the suggestions of changes will be considered to be implemented.
Photo Credit- WTVB
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