A Facebook Popup Takes on Misinformation

It’s been six months and counting, and an estimated 50M Republicans still believe that Trump won the 2020 election. That the January 6 rioters who stormed the capitol with the intent to hang the Vice President and kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were “really just behaving like normal tourists”. According to Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the Capitol attack was largely a “peaceful protest.” Really?

Like it or not, our social media platforms are where we gather, and they’ve inherited the responsibility for both spreading and controlling the growing problem of misinformation.

Facebook steps up with informational alerts

Facebook is taking another step to reduce the spread of misinformation that includes increased user penalties. Facebook has partnered with independent, third-party fact-checking teams, and it touts its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the fact-checking process. 

A Facebook popup warns users about the possibility of misinformation

Facebook has launched a new popup alerting visitors to a Facebook Page that this page may be sharing false information, as per fact-checkers. The popup clearly communicates that because a Page has shared questionable content in the past, there is the distinct possibility that current content may be incorrect. 

“We want to give people more information before they like a Page that has repeatedly shared content that fact-checkers have rated. You can also click to learn more, including that fact-checkers said some posts shared by this Page include false information and a link to more information about our fact-checking program. This will help users make informed decisions about whether they want to follow the Page.”

Upping the penalties for distributing misinformation

“We will reduce the distribution of all posts in News Feed from an individual’s Facebook account if they repeatedly share content that has been rated by one of our fact-checking partners. We already reduce a single post’s reach in News Feed if it has been debunked.”

Limiting the News Feed reach will stir up the Facebook conspiracy theorists and those who believe the platform has no right to stop their sharing whatever they like on the platform. What happens is pretty dramatic: Facebook and Instagram networks–more than 4B users/month, will stop seeing their posts if they keep sharing phony conspiracy theories and misinformed reports. These users likely will perceive this as censorship and loss of their freedoms, with big brother controlling the flow of information. 

Facebook is right to act

Their fact-checkers ensure that false information is being flagged and removed where possible to reduce its spread and stop the use of the Facebook/Instagram network to amplify misinformation and its hateful, violent narratives.

Misinformation has become even more unrelenting of late

Misinformation about the Covid vaccine is slowing the broader recovery efforts. Facebook and Instagram are operating the largest interconnected, most influential network of humans in history. It’s important that they assume a leadership role, take action and attempt to disrupt and manage the flow of misinformation. 

Time to talk about digital ads? Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and digital marketing specialists. 

Is Facebook Good For The World?

 

Has Facebook Lost Its Way?

Let’s start by giving Facebook credit for its attempt to combat disinformation. But has it done enough? The answer, increasingly, seems to be no. Facebook’s own staff, who have historically been positive about the platform’s impact, are now raising questions about the application’s broader social influence.

According to Buzzfeed, Facebook’s semiannual “Pulse Survey”, taken by nearly 50,000 employees in October, showed workers were losing faith that the company was improving the world. Only 51% of respondents said they believed that Facebook had a positive influence on the world.

Facebook on the wrong side of history

Facebook engineer Ashok Chandwaney quit the company over its failure to address concerns around racism, disinformation and incitements to violence. Other senior Facebook staff left the company over morality concerns and the direction the company is taking. Facebook can be a forum to do good, yet many believe that Facebook has no real interest in cracking down on dangerous and divisive hate speech because it sparks debate and interaction. Engagement is what keeps people coming back, though anger spills over into real-world incendiary incidents.

QAnon: Facebook missed an opportunity to do the right thing

QAnon is a dangerous group of conspiracy peddlers who found a home on Facebook in 2016, and there are millions of members and followers. Experts had long been warning Facebook about the group, yet only last month did they finally take down these pages. There were countless warnings, yet it took four years before Facebook finally acted on this. 

Many recall Zuckerberg’s speech to Georgetown University in October 2019

In this speech, Zuckerberg essentially capitulated, explaining that he was not responsible for monitoring what people were posting on the Facebook platform. “I believe in giving people a voice . . . with all of our individual voices and perspectives, we can bring the world closer together.” Sorry Mark. Incendiary rhetoric and disinformation aren’t bringing the world closer together. They’re tearing the world apart. Engagement seems to drive all major decisions at Facebook, with little regard for values such as honesty, authenticity and contributing to the greater good. Let’s not forget the endless data problems that seem to plague Facebook.

It’s difficult to conclude that Zuckerberg is motivated by anything other than profits. Congress has made lame efforts to regulate these big tech companies. In the case of Facebook, without penalties from enforcement, we’ll have more empty platitudes. In a better time, this might not be necessary. 

We’ve written about Mark Zuckerberg’s cozying up to Donald Trump

Zuckerberg clearly has no interest in being hauled in front of Congress again for long hours of testimony. If forging a relationship with Trump was a path to circumvent that, he was happy to take it. We’re now ushering in a new administration, and our social media companies may be in for more accountability. 

Marketing 2021

Everyone right now seems to be in the process of updating his/her website, including me! This is the perfect time to develop new marketing strategies or start working on a new site. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. Writers and content marketing specialists.