Fake news has definitely been a trend lately and several companies like Google & Facebook are fighting back with new fact-checking tools and methods to counter the tremendous amounts of fake news. Facebook will start applying these new methods outside of the USA to promote a global expansion of their fact checker service. As of today, it looks like Germany will be the first to give it a test run within a few weeks, to attempt to prevent any issues concerning the upcoming federal election. Germans will be able to report fake articles so Facebook can verify the story and eventually warn other users of the false source.
Germany has already proposed a law that would charge websites that don’t take down fake news off of their platforms serious fines. Facebook can obviously handle the fines, but it’s nice to see them taking the initiative to try to help eliminate problematic reports and stories.
If Russia is really distorting elections then this can help limit the fuel needed to spread their influence on federal matters.
