Facebook is taking another step toward clearing so-called fake news from the social network: Beginning Monday, it will block Pages that share fake news from advertising on Facebook at all.
In a blog post, Facebook said Pages that “repeatedly share stories marked as false” by third-party fact-checkers will be banned from buying ads. Facebook did not specify what “repeatedly” means in this case, or share more details on how many false articles a Page must send before it’s punished.
A spokesperson said it’s not sharing that info because it would “allow people to game the system.”
The ban is also not permanent. Pages will be allowed to advertise again if they “stop sharing false news.”
Facebook has been cracking down on false news since last fall, when many believe false news may have impacted the U.S. presidential election. Some of Facebook’s efforts have been to kill the business behind spreading misinformation. That means punishing the Pages or publishers sharing it.
Facebook already banned publishers from promoting a link or story that was deemed false by third-party fact-checkers.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via