Social media giant Facebook has announced it will launch a fact-checking program in Romania with French news agency Agence France-Presse.
Facebook has worked with journalists and fact-checking organizations for two years to create a tool to assess the accuracy the various links posted on Facebook and to call out fake news.
Facebook has checking mechanisms in many EU countries, although not in Romania until now.
“The pages and domains that are repeatedly sharing fake news will have their sharing activity diminished and their will be cut off of the possibility of advertising on Facebook and to generate money”, Facebook said on Tuesday.
Fake news will be highlighted with labels warning over fake content and Facebook can downgrade posts or delete them.
Facebook representatives say they are willing to expand their list of fact-checking partners, but partners need to have an international fact-checking certificate.
“The fight against fake news is a responsibility that we take seriously, that’s why we are constantly working on ways to stop the spread of misinformation on our platform. AFP is our key partner to check the information, as it has journalists on-site worldwide,” said Jakub Turowski, Head of Public Policy for Poland, Baltic states, Romania and Bulgaria.
Facebook users who consider their content has unfairly been labeled as ‘fake news’ can appeal the decision.
The content of the websites frequently labeled as misinformation will be downgraded on the News Feed and they may be unable to monetize their content.
Facebook is currently teaming up with fact-checking organizations in 15 European countries, with the most recent ones being Czechia, Slovakia, Germany and Romania.
Facebook has been criticized in recent years for not doing too little to stop fake news and misinformation shared on its platform, either when it was related to election, Covid-19 or vaccines.
