Facebook to do away with Disputed Flags and use Related Articles feature to control the spread of fake news

Facebook has announced a new method for identifying fake news on a users news feed. The social media giant plans to do away with the **Disputed Flags** which were earlier used to identify fake news and instead it will use its Related Articles tools. [caption id=“attachment_4116281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image.[/caption] According to Facebook, the use of Related Articles will give the user more context about the story and it will also reduce the frequency of a hoax article being shared. Facebook dropped Disputed Tags because it found out that the more often than not the feature buried critical information related to the story and could also strengthen the person’s false beliefs. The Verge claims that the newer version of the Related Articles and fact-checked articles were being tested by Facebook earlier this year and it was found out that Related Articles led to fewer shares of a hoax article. Also, said in the report is that the Related Articles feature requires only one fact checker rather than two, which was seen in Facebook’s previous approach. This way the identification of hoax articles becomes easier and faster. [caption id=“attachment_4270795” align=“alignnone” width=“1000”] The former Disputed Flags treatment for misinformation in the News Feed. Facebook[/caption] The Verge also claimed in the report that Facebook believes that all fake news posted is motivated to force the user to click on links which are full of ads and spam. However, Facebook is actively trying to demote this kind of posts and cutting their traffic by up to 80 percent, according to the report. [caption id=“attachment_4270799” align=“alignnone” width=“1000”] The updated Related Articles treatment for misinformation in the News Feed. Facebook[/caption] Facebook has been under a lot of criticism as of late for being “biased” and failing to check “fake” news. Facebook uses algorithms to determine everything from what you see and do not see in  News Feed , to finding and removing other content like hate speech and violent threats.