Facebook enlists AI in war on fake news

Facebook today revealed it was escalating its battle against fake news using machine learning.

Back in April, Facebook announced it’d be using Related Articles as a way of combating the influx of dubious articles. When you clicked on a post sharing an article, the Related Articles section directly below would show articles with different takes on the same topic. These would frequently include articles from third-party fact-checker sites, including the beleaguered Snopes.

Today, Facebook says it’s using its updated machine learning to filter out more suspect stories. Now the Related Articles are more likely to show the fact-checker’s account of the same topic. According to a spokesperson:

In addition to seeing which stories are disputed by third-party fact checkers, people want more context to make informed decisions about what they read and share.

This still might not be enough to pop a reader’s filter bubble, but it’s another step in the right direction.