Facebook will not remove or ban fake news but it will demote

Facebook said the company will not remove or ban fake news on its platform, the company believes that banning or removing fakes because it is against the basic principles of free speech.

The social media giant said it will not remove fake news from its platform because it does not violate its community standards. The company is running a fresh advertising campaign in the UK which says; “Fake News Is Not Our Friend”, BBC reported.

Facebook wrangles that publishers have always a different point of view, someone’s opinion or analysis could be considered fake news by some people, it doesn’t necessarily mean no one agrees with the opinion and it should be removed, this is against the basic principles of free speech.

Instead of removing such content from the platform Facebook will demote it in the newsfeed.

Facebook had been under immense pressures by the authorities for spreading fake news of false information after it emerged Russian authorities used the platform to influence US voters during the presidential election in the United States.

During an event in New York on Wednesday, the company tried to convince journalists that it was cracking down on the fake news problem. A CCN journalist Oliver Darcy asked the company how it could claim to crack down on the fake news while the company has allowed Infowars page running on the platform to spread disinformation.

Facebook bringing dedicated Breaking News video section

Infowars is the platform which produces live talk shows online and has over 900,000 followers on Facebook. Its major host Alex Jones has more than 2.4 million subscribers on YouTube as well. However, the platform is spreading false information in the eyes of many based on conspiracy theories.

In reply, John Hegeman, said, “We have created Facebook, where different people can have their voice.”

The company said we will not remove fake news from the platform as long as they do not breach our community standards, but we will demote and down-rank them in the newsfeed if they are marked as false.

Facebook to verify political ads before elections in Pakistan

Facebook had a red warning icon next to the articles that “fact check services” had identified as false, but later the company realized the approach was entrenched deeply held beliefs.

Facebook’s spokesperson told reporters on Wednesday that conspiracy theories and fake news is the real problem, but Infowars contributor Paul Watson said, CNN was lobbying the platform to shut down the smaller competitor.