AP and Facebook join forces to battle fake news in midterm elections

Under pressure after their platform fell victim to Russian-linked trolls disrupting the 2016 elections, Facebook is sorely challenged to show it can shut down nefarious activity. President Donald Trump has shown no interest in helping out, and the House rejected attempts to establish a commission to study Russia’s assault on our elections.  There is also evidence that politicians are creating “news” sites to create propaganda designed to spread on Facebook. (BuzzFeed, March 6, 2018, by Alex Kantrowitz)

Into the breach comes the Associated Press with a plan to extend its collaboration with Facebook to “identify and debunk” fake news stories invading Facebook during the upcoming elections. Journalists in the 50 states will fact-check local, state and national election stories and write stories to discredit, validate or give important background and perspective to help readers understand the issues. (The Drum, March 7, 2018, by Bennett Bennett)

For recent FAC coverage on fake news, click here and here.