Facebook has begun adding labels to satire pages so that it can make extra sure that people aren’t confusing satire for, you know, real news.
While internet-saavy folk generally know how to tell ‘real’ news apart from satire, the truth is that many Facebook users do not. It is too common of an occurrence to see someone share an article from The Onion or The Borowitz Report as if it were serious news.
The new labels show up under the page’s name as a bit of grey text.
Starting today in the US, we’re testing a way to give people more context about the Pages they see. We’ll gradually start applying labels including ‘public official,’ ‘fan page’ or ‘satire page’ to posts in News Feed, so people can better understand who they’re coming from.pic.twitter.com/Bloc3b2ycb
— Facebook Newsroom (@fbnewsroom)April 7, 2021
But wait, there’s more! The company is also rolling out ‘public official’ and ‘fan page’ labels for added transparency. The new labels build on disclaimers added forstate-controlled medialast year.
The 💜 of EU tech
The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It’s free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!
The labels begin rolling out today, although Facebook notes it is ‘testing’ the feature, so you might still have to deal with family members unwittingly sharing satire for some time yet.
Story byNapier Lopez
Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in(show all)Napier Lopez is a writer based in New York City. He’s interested in all things tech, science, and photography related, and likes to yo-yo in his free time. Follow himon Twitter.
Get the TNW newsletter
Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.
