Some Facebook employees have formed a secret, unofficial task force to help the company combat fake news, according to a Buzzfeed report. The group has reportedly challenged Mark Zuckerberg’s comments claiming that fake news on the platform didn’t affect the election.
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The revelation came after Gizmodo reported yesterday that Facebook has conducted high-level talks since May about Facebook’s role in disseminating news, and its role in preventing fake news from spreading. One source told Gizmodo that “high-ranking officials were briefed on a planned News Feed update that would have identified fake or hoax news stories, but disproportionately impacted right-wing news sites by downgrading or removing that content from people’s feeds”. In a move aimed at calming critics, Facebook announced that it would block fake news sites from using its advertising network.
According to a Facebook source who spoke with Buzzfeed, there are “more than dozens” of employees that have joined the unofficial task force to stop fake news, and they have met in secret twice in the past week. The groups plan to make recommendations on how to prevent fake news from spreading, which it will present to senior executives, according to the report.