Facebook Campaigns Against Fake News In UK

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Facebook has announced a national print advertising campaign in the UK to educate the British public about fake news, as part of a concerted global effort to crack down on the false information epidemic it has seen on its platform.

The social network’s full-page print ads will appear in four UK newspapers on Monday, including the Telegraph, Times, Metro and Guardian, reproducing the same 10 tips to spot fake news that it launched on Facebook itself last month.

The move, which comes a month before the UK general election, follows similar newspaper ads in Germany and France last month ahead of their elections, in newspapers including Bild, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Le Monde and Les Échos. “People want to see accurate information on Facebook and so do we. That is why we are doing everything we can to tackle the problem of false news,” said Simon Milner, Facebook’s director of policy for the UK.

“To help people spot false news, we are showing tips to everyone . . . on how to identify if something they see is false.” The 10 tips include watching out for fraudulent web addresses and manipulated photos, as well as considering the source and tone of a story, such as whether it is a joke.