Facebook Clamps Down on Fake News in Germany
- Monday, January 16th, 2017
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Facebook is to roll out a suite of tools to identify fake news in Germany. The tools will enable Facebook users in the country to flag stories they suspect are false. These will then be passed to independent fact-checkers and, if found to be unreliable, the stories will be flagged as ‘unreliable’ in users’ news feeds.
In a statement issued by its German press office, Facebook said: “Last month we announced measures to tackle the challenge of fake news on Facebook. We will put these updates in place in Germany in the coming weeks.” 
Facebook was widely criticised after the US election for not doing enough to tackle the issue of fake news, which some people believe influenced the result of the election. In Germany, Justice Minister Heiko Maas has repeatedly warned about fake news on Facebook, and called on the firm to respect the countrys defamation laws, which are stricter than those that apply in the US.
