<p>Listers ,</p>
<p>For your information and attention.</p>
<p>Regards</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: "Richard Hill" <<a href="mailto:rhill@hill-a.ch">rhill@hill-a.ch</a>><br>Date: Feb 10, 2017 5:20 PM<br>Subject: [Internet Policy] What Facebook Is Doing to Combat Fake News<br>To: "Internetpolicy@Elists. Isoc. Org" <<a href="mailto:internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org">internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org</a>><br><br type="attribution"><div bgcolor="white" lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple"><div class="m_3356425816202223356WordSection1"><div><div style="border:none;border-top:solid #b5c4df 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="ES" style="font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif""><u></u> <u></u></span></p><div><div><div><div><h1 style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-family:Times"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;text-decoration:none">What Facebook Is Doing to Combat Fake News</span></a><u></u><u></u></span></h1><p class="m_3356425816202223356m3955266224838269930gmail-tarticle-subtitle" style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;max-width:1010px"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;color:#323232">The social network has rolled out new tools to deal with this growing problem</span></b><span style="color:#323232"><u></u><u></u></span></p><div style="margin-top:22.5pt;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#999999;vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif"">By <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/author/david-pogue/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none">David Pogue</span></a> | <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/magazine/sa/2017/02-01/?WT.ac=SA_SA_CurrentIssue" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none">Scientific American February 2017 Issue</span></a></span></b><span style="font-family:"Helvetica","sans-serif""><u></u><u></u></span></li></ul></div></div><div><div style="margin-top:56.25pt;margin-bottom:30.0pt;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;max-width:1220px"><div><div style="border:solid black 1.5pt;padding:0cm 0cm 0cm 0cm;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;overflow:visible"><div><div style="border-top:dotted #cccccc 1.0pt;border-left:dotted #cccccc 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1.0pt;padding:0cm"><img border="0" width="32" height="32" id="m_3356425816202223356_x0000_i1025" alt="mage removed by sender."></span><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:Times;color:#1a1a1a"><u></u><u></u></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><i><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:Times;color:#1a1a1a;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0cm">Credit: <a href="http://www.gettyimages.com/license/599388352" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none">Iain Masterton <em><span style="font-family:Times">Getty Images</span></em></span></a></span></i><span style="font-size:1.0pt;font-family:Times;color:#1a1a1a"><u></u><u></u></span></p><div style="margin-top:30.0pt;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">This month, in my <em><span style="font-family:Times;border:none windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0cm"><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ultimate-cure-for-the-fake-news-epidemic-will-be-more-skeptical-readers/" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Scientific American</span></a></span></em><a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-ultimate-cure-for-the-fake-news-epidemic-will-be-more-skeptical-readers/" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none"> column</span></a>, I wrote about the rise of <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">fake news</span></a> stories: Bogus stories, posted on no-name Web sites, intended to generate ad income (and perhaps to influence the presidential election).<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">At first, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> CEO Mark Zuckerberg downplayed the significance of the fake-news tsunami.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">But as the backlash continued, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> soon rolled out new tools to combat the spread of <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">fake news</span></a>. As <a href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2016/12/news-feed-fyi-addressing-hoaxes-and-fake-news/" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">a spokesman puts it</span></a>, “We cannot become arbiters of truth ourselves.”<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">Instead, the new tools take four approaches, which <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> intends to study and enhance over time.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">First: If you tap the V button at the top right of a post and then choose “Report this post,” you’ll see a new option called “It’s a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">fake news</span></a> story.” On the next screen, you’ll have a choice of options, including “Mark this post as <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">fake news</span></a>.” (Other options include “Message Chris Robin” [or whomever posted the story] to let them know they fell for it.)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">Second: If enough people flag a story as fake, it will be sent to a fact-checking organization like Snopes.com or PolitiFact. And if the outfit determines that yes, the story is bogus, it will appear on <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> with a red banner that says, “Disputed by Third-Party Fact Checkers.” That banner will include a link to the fact checkers’ article explaining why the story is false. (If you try to share it, you’ll see a similar message.)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">In other words, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> is being careful to avoid outright censorship. The stories still appear, but with flags that identify them as phony. (Those stories may appear lower in your News Feed, and can’t be promoted or made into ads.)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">Third: <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> will employ software to help identify fake stories. For example, <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> has learned that when lots of people read a certain article but then don’t share it, it’s often because the story is phony.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">Fourth: <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> is trying to shut down the financial incentive for fakers. Its engineers have eliminated the ability for the fakers to create Web sites that impersonate actual news sites, for example. And the company will analyze sites that draw ad dollars from <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> traffic, and will cut them off if they’re in the business of fake-news fraud.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><span style="font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Times;color:#323232">As <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">Facebook</span></a> has pointed out, there can be a fine line between “<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="color:dimgray;text-decoration:none">fake news</span></a>” and satire, rumor, editorial and true-but-missing-context stories. The company’s four steps strike me as impressively fair and thoughtful. They aim to help readers sort out fact from fiction, without actually stifling anybody’s opinion.<u></u><u></u></span></p></div><p style="margin:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline;box-sizing:inherit;outline:0px;background-image:initial;background-position:initial;background-size:initial;background-repeat:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial"><i><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Times;color:#999999">This article was originally published with the title "<a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pogue-what-facebook-is-doing-to-combat-fake-news/?WT.mc_id=SA_MB_20170208" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration:none">What Facebook Is Doing to Combat Fake News</span></a>"<u></u><u></u></span></i></p></div></div></div></div></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p></div></div></div><br>______________________________<wbr>_________________<br>
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