In an era in which we spend more and more time on social networks, it is necessary to have tools against disinformation. Facebook begins to test a utility that warns users when they are about to share a news item from another person or website without having entered to read it .
With this tool, the platform founded by Mark Zuckerberg wants to add reliability to the content that circulates on it . The lack of veracity in many publications has been the subject of significant criticism, especially during the pandemic. It is true that fake news is not exclusively circulated on Facebook, but the global mass of users who have an account on this platform makes it easier for misinformation to go viral.
“Starting today, we are testing a way to promote a more informed exchange of news articles. If you are going to share a link to a news article that you have not opened, we will show you a message encouraging you to open and read it, first to share it with others, “they explained from Facebook.
Facebook and the danger of sharing without reading
The system adopted by Facebook is clearly based on the one used by Twitter last year . In June 2020, said social network implemented the “read before retweeting” initiative, with the aim of reducing the circulation of potentially incorrect information.
From now on, those who try the new Facebook tool will see a box when they want to share unread content. “You are about to share this article without opening it. Sharing articles without first reading them may mean losing key data” , says the warning. So users will have two options: open the news or share it anyway.
Credit: Facebook It is not yet known how long the new Facebook tool will be under test , nor how many people have access to it. Either way, it is likely that in a not too distant time it will be available to the vast majority of accounts on the social network.
The downside is that the utility is exaggeratedly late, especially considering that Facebook claims to be a reliable source of news. The positive is that, without trying too hard and despite the delay, the platform adds an extra step that can be crucial to combat misinformation .
