Facebook to restrict accounts that spread fake news

Facebook has promised to take stricter measures against users who spread misinformation and fake news. The US-based social media giant Facebook is introducing penalties to deal with criminals by restricting their accounts.

Disinformation on social media is a hot topic, and these companies have taken various initiatives to curb its spread in the past. But with the misinformation surrounding Covid-19, it seems to have alerted your senses at rest, given the severity of the problem.

"Whether it's false or misleading content about COVID-19 and vaccines, climate change, elections, or other topics, we're making sure fewer people see misinformation on our apps," Facebook said in a blog post.

"Starting today, we will reduce the distribution of all posts in News Feed from an individual's Facebook account if they repeatedly share content that has been rated by one of our fact-checking partners," it added.

So, Facebook will reduce the reach of posts shared by a person who has a history of sharing misinformation based on the company's fact-checking partners. Therefore, the scope of the bookmarked post is less than that of that person in the users' news feed.

Facebook is also launching an enhancement alert tool that notifies users if they interact with content that is rated by a fact-checking partner. The new update makes it easier for people to identify that the information might not be reliable. Additionally, Facebook says it wants to provide useful information with a pop-up window to users before they like a page that has shared content repeatedly that has been rated by fact-checkers.

"We want to give people more information before they like a Page that has repeatedly shared content that fact-checkers have rated, so you'll see a pop up if you go to like one of these Pages," said Facebook.

The notification will include the fact-checkers article with corrected facts debunking the claims made in the other article with a message to share the correct article with your connections. It also includes a notification that alerts users that they are sharing false information and that their posts may rank lower in the News Feed so that a large number does not see it of people.