This week we have been digging into misinformation. So far, we have looked into the specific practices that Twitter and Google are implementing on their platforms to combat misinformation in the month prior to the Presidential election. Today we turn our attention to Facebook – the largest of the social media platforms, and arguably the one that is most ubiquitously used to spread “fake news.”
A number of Congressional reports have been released this week arguing that Facebook and the three other biggest tech firms — Amazon, Apple, and Google — have amassed too much power. “To put it simply, companies that once were scrappy, underdog startups that challenged the status quo have become the kinds of monopolies we last saw in the era of oil barons and railroad tycoons,” the Democratic report states. It continues by stating that “although these firms have delivered clear benefits to society, the dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google has come at a price.”
The New York Times notes that the report accuses Facebook of playing an overly dominant role on social media, facilitating the spread of misinformation. “Because of the absence of competition, user privacy has been eroded while misinformation and toxic content have proliferated across all of the company’s services, which are used regularly by more than three billion people,” the New York Times piece reads.
There are signs that the leading social platforms are taking misinformation more seriously than in years – and elections – past. Facebook has committed to not running new political ads in the final week of the election and says it will label misinformation about the election and voting. Yesterday, Facebook took down a post by President Trump that minimized the impact of COVID-19, noting that it was in conflict with its policy against users spreading information deemed both wrong and harmful. Facebook pointed to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization that contradicted Trump’s claim that COVID-19 is far less lethal than the flu.
While Facebook removed the post, Twitter replaced a tweet on its platform containing the same message with the following:
This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.
Twitter is not removing the tweet altogether. After reading the warning above, users can click on the accompanying View button and see Trump’s original tweet. This marks one of the first times Facebook has reached further than other platforms in the fight against misinformation.
Facebook also announced yesterday that it is strengthening its position against QAnon, banning all of its content on the platform. The company released an update on its blog noting that its ‘Dangerous Organizations Operations team’ will ‘proactively detect and enforce content for removal.’
Starting today, we will remove any Facebook Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts representing QAnon, even if they contain no violent content. This is an update from the initial policy in August that removed Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts associated with QAnon when they discussed potential violence while imposing a series of restrictions to limit the reach of other Pages, Groups, and Instagram accounts associated with the movement.
It is not just militarized groups, public health, and the political arenas that Facebook is focusing on to tackle misinformation. An ‘information hub’ has also been set up to fight climate denialism. According to the Drum, Facebook “has seen its reputation tarnished by a slew of misinformation engulfing its services in the wake of unprecedented wildfires raging across the US west coast.” The new Climate Science Hub will supposedly be a portal within Facebook where users can go for reliable information on climate change.
Some say these changes do not go far enough, however. Senator Mark Warner sent letters to Facebook, Twitter, and Google this week calling them “a vector for disinformation, viral misinformation, and voter suppression efforts” and asking the platforms to combat these issues. “I write today to again urge you to implement strong accountability and transparency standards in the context of our nation’s election,” Senator Warner wrote in the letters.