Back in the day to get your news, you’d have to rely on more traditional media outlets such as TV, the radio, or the newspaper. These days while those mediums are still viable, we’ve got more options to choose from such as social media, blogs, and so on. However with the advent of technology, it has also allowed people to call themselves journalists and post fake news.
For example just recently, Facebook accidentally added a fake 9/11 story to its Trending Topics, going to show that sometimes even the best of us get it wrong. However this is something that they don’t want to happen again in the future, which is why Facebook and Twitter have joined a network called the First Draft Coalition that aims to help cut down the number of fake news on the internet.
The First Draft Coalition was formed in 2015 with the backing of Google. With Facebook and Twitter joining, it adds to their ranks with a network of over 30 news and tech companies with the goal of creating a voluntary code of practice and to promote news literacy. It is also aimed to help users verify which pieces of news are real and which are fake.
The platform in which users can use to verify fake stories is expected to be launched by the end of October, so hopefully with the launch, fake stories circulating the internet will be lessened.