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Facebook To Start Putting Warning Labels On 'Fake News'

Last updated on Monday, December 19, 2016

(NEW YORK) - Facebook says it will start applying warning labels to some “fake news” stories that users share on the social network.

CNN WIRE reports, articles that are known to be false -- seemingly published with the intent to trick people -- will be marked with what Facebook is calling a "flag."

Below the headline there will be a red label that says "disputed by 3rd Party Fact-Checkers."

Users will be able to click on a "learn why this is disputed" link to get more information.

Facebook will not be doing the fact-checking itself. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has repeatedly said that "we do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties."

So those third parties will be fact-checking organization that have committed to the International Fact Checking Code of Principles, which was recently established by Poynter, a journalism organization.

Several dozen fact-checking organizations around the world have signed on the code of principles.

If the fact checking organizations identify a story as fake, it will get flagged as disputed and there will be a link to the corresponding article explaining why.

Facebook is making it clear that users will still be able to post whatever they want, no matter how bogus, on their own Facebook pages. But "you will see a warning that the story has been disputed as you share." .

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