Facebook warns on fake news in Mexican presidential campaign
[MEXICO CITY] After coming under fire for its role in the 2016 US election, Facebook is taking steps to prevent what it calls fake news during Mexico's presidential campaign.
The social-networking giant on Tuesday placed full-page ads in prominent Mexican newspapers including El Financiero under the title "Tips to Detect Fake News". The company's logo appears on the top left corner.
After the election of US President Donald Trump, Facebook chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg had to respond to critics who said that certain viral stories on the network - such as a false report saying that the pope had endorsed Mr Trump - could have swayed the election. The Menlo Park, California-based company has worked with First Draft, a non-profit journalistic coalition, to come up with tips to detect misinformation.
In the newspaper ads on Tuesday, the company lists 10 tips, such as "Doubt the headline", "Check the source" and "Carefully observe the URL".
At the bottom of the page, a banner reads, in Spanish, "Together, we can limit the diffusion of fake news".
Facebook said the ads are an effort to help improve digital literacy and part of its push to combat the spread of false news and misinformation.
Mexico votes for president on July 1.
BLOOMBERG
KEYWORDS IN THIS ARTICLE
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Technology
Meta’s results are best viewed through rose-tinted AI glasses
'Harvesting data': Latin American AI startups transform farming
After long peace, Big Tech faces US antitrust reckoning
Tech’s cash crunch sees creditors turn ‘violent’ with one another
Tech millionaires chase billionaire tax shields with ‘swap fund’
Elon Musk’s Starlink profits are more elusive than investors think