Facebook has ended an experiment that promoted comments containing the word ‘fake’ to the top of people’s news feeds in a bid to tackle the spread of misinformation. In the end, it did quite the opposite.

Only a small number of users saw the test in action, but they were less-than-happy with what they were seeing. The algorithm used by Facebook simply identified any comment using the word fake without establishing any semblance of context. This led to feeds from legitimate, and well-known, news sources – like the BBC, the New York Times, and the Guardian – having their comment sections begin with the word fake written within the top comment of their posts.

In turn, the experiment actually made it more difficult for users to differentiate between legitimate news and fake news. However, on a more positive note, it shows that Facebook is still working hard to stop the spread of misinformation on its social network and is willing to try anything to fix it.

“Were always working on ways to curb the spread of misinformation on our platform, and sometimes run tests to find new ways to do this. This was a small test which has now concluded,” a Facebook spokesperson told the BBC.

“We wanted to see if prioritising comments that indicate disbelief would help. Were going to keep working to find new ways to help our community make more informed decisions about what they read and share.”

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