Report: Facebook to Restrict ‘Fake News’ Pages from Buying Ads

Facebook will stop pages that frequently share “fake news” from being able to purchase advertisements on the platform, according to a report.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook will stop pages “that regularly share these stories from buying any Facebook ads at all, regardless of whether or not the ad includes a disputed link.”

“Product Director Rob Leathern said the company has been trying to fight back in three ways — ending the economic incentive to post false news stories, slowing the spread of those stories and helping people make more informed decisions when they see a false story,” they explained. “In this case, Leathern said blocking ad-buying is meant to change the economic incentives.”

“There are Pages posting this information that are using Facebook Ads to build audiences,” claimed Leathern. “Obviously, it’s not a single instance. It’s a repeated pattern of misinformation.”

This month, Facebook also announced they would be rolling out a “related articles” section that would appear below popular stories and those that are deemed to be “fake news.”

The related articles include “fact-checks” from left-wing organizations, such as Politifact, Snopes, and ABC News.

Last week it was reported that teenagers are ditching Facebook for other social networks, including Instagram and Snapchat.

“Social networking leader Facebook will see its user growth continue to slow in both countries [United States and United Kingdom] as lessening usage among teens and young adults drags down overall user growth,” reported eMarketer. “eMarketer has reduced its usage estimates for US monthly Facebook users ages 12 to 17 and 18 to 24. Yet for the same age groups, we have kept unchanged or adjusted higher our usage estimates for Snapchat and Instagram, suggesting younger social network users are turning away from Facebook in favor of other platforms.”