Facebook promotes fake news by activating Safety Check based on false reports of Bangkok bomb

The problem of fake news on Facebook has been highly publicized recently, and while the social network says it is doing what it can to tackle the issue, it seems the company is actually adding fuel to the fire. Based on false reports of an explosion in Bangkok, Thailand, Facebook's Safety Check feature was activated. This in turn helped to give the initial story authenticity, helping with the spread of fake news. Safety Check has itself proved to be a controversial feature, and combined with flakey news algorithms, it resulted in a perfect storm. The problem was sparked off by… [Continue Reading]