Facebook and Twitter will help Google filter out fake news
The social networks have joined the Google-backed First Draft Coalition.
Facebook and Twitter have joined a Google-backed effort that aims to tackle fake news that tend to spread on social media. If you use either website, you've definitely seen those types of posts -- you know, hoaxes, headlines that have nothing to do with the actual story, fake celebrity deaths, and so on and so forth -- before. The two companies are now part of the First Draft Coalition, which was announced back in June 2015 along with YouTube Newswire, a curated collection of verified eyewitness videos covering various events. FDC will help not just journalists from partner publications, but also individual users verify stories circulating online.
Facebook, in particular, is a huge addition to the list of partners, seeing as fake and spammy posts spread like wildfire among the website's billions of users. It will provide coalition members with tools and services that can help them figure out if they're looking at a hoax. According to Reuters, the coalition is scheduled to launch the platform where members can verify stories by the end of October. For now you can check out what FDC is all about on its website.
