Facebook overrides fact-checks when climate science is “opinion”
Social network still has trouble separating “opinion” from disinformation. …
reader comments
120 with 76 posters participating
Facebook has touted its fact-checking process as one of the ways it intends to fight rampant disinformation heading into the 2020 US presidential election. New reports about the way the site handles the fact-checking of climate science stories, though, make clear that fact-checking can only work as well as Facebook allows it to—and that the months from now to November are going to be a slog.
Facebook does not employ fact-checkers directly but rather works with a range of third-party organizations to rate how true or false content shared in categories is. The efforts are not universal, however. While Facebook has heavily invested in efforts to stem the overwhelming tide of false and misleading COVID-19 information, for example, it does not heavily fact-check information related to climate change.
The New York Times recently explained the platform’s reasoning behind how it handles climate change. Facebook considers opinion content largely exempt from review—and climate change can, as far as Facebook’s rules are concerned, be a matter of opinion.
Rarely reviewed, however, is different from never. “When someone posts content based on false facts—even if it’s an op-ed or editorial—it is still eligible for fact-checking,” Facebook Communications Director Andy Stone told the NYT. “We’re working to make this clearer in our guidelines so our fact checkers can use their judgment to determine whether it is an attempt to mask false information under the guise of opinion.”
The line has been clear as mud, so far, and Facebook has at
Continue reading – Article source
