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<\/p>\nBy Alexei Oreskovic
\nREUTERS<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it has taken steps to clamp down on “hoaxes” and fake news stories that can spread like wildfire on its 1.35-billion member online social network.<\/p>\n
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The company said it had introduced an option to allow Facebook users to flag a story as “purposefully fake or deceitful news” to reduce the distribution of news stories reported as hoaxes.<\/p>\n
Facebook said it will not remove fake news stories from its website. Instead, the company’s algorithm, which determines how widely user posts are distributed, will take into account hoax reports.<\/p>\n
“A post with a link to an article that many people have reported as a hoax or chose to delete will get reduced distribution in the News Feed,” Facebook explained.<\/p>\n
Facebook has become an increasingly important source of news, with 30 percent of adults in the U.S. consuming news on the world’s largest social network, according to a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center in collaboration with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.<\/p>\n
Facebook cited stories about dinosaur sightings and research supposedly proving the existence of Santa Claus as examples of fake news stories.<\/p>\n
Facebook said “satirical” content, such as news stories “intended to be humorous, or content that is clearly labeled as satire,” should not be affected.<\/p>\n
(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; editing by Andrew Hay)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Facebook clamps down on fake news stories By Alexei Oreskovic REUTERS SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it has taken steps to clamp down on “hoaxes” and fake news stories that can spread like wildfire on its … Continue reading