Fake News Sites Banned from Buying Ads on Facebook

Fake news sites have grown in number due to the the rapid pace of advances in technology and the increase in social media sites allowing instant updates on breaking news and trending stories. Everyday, we are swamped with news stories whenever use a smart phone or log onto Facebook or email. It is also easy to pass these news stories on to other people by simply clicking on the share button. With a single click, a fake news site story can be sent to thousands of people around the world. The 2016 U.S. election shows us just how fast a fake news site story can reach millions.

Responding to this crisis, Facebook recently announced it will prohibit websites from buying ads if they promote fake news stories. The process involves a third-party fact checking site, but the problem continues because fake news site stories can be linked to legitimate news sites in order to increase traffic to the fake news site's pages. Facebook's product manager Tessa Lyons made the following comment in a Facebook blog post: "If people stop pressing the share button when they see fake news, these sites may be allowed in the future to run ads again."

This Monday, Facebook made further refinements to the new policy by banning website pages which are repeatedly flagged as fake news sites and not allowing them to purchase ads. Consumers can do their part by reporting posts which violate this new Facebook policy.

Facebook wants to block ad money for fake news