Social media giant Facebook announced this week that it will be introducing a warning for users if they attempt to share content that is more than 90 days old.
Techcrunch reports that Facebook recently announced that it would be introducing a notification screen warning for users if they try to share content that is more than 90 days old. The users will be given the choice to “go back” or continue to share the story after being notified that it may be “outdated”
The notification is an attempt to prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform as according to Facebook, “news publishers in particular” have expressed concern about older stories being shared as if they’re brand new breaking news.
Facebook Vice President of Feed and Stories John Hegeman wrote in a company blog post: “Over the past several months, our internal research found that the timeliness of an article is an important piece of context that helps people decide what to read, trust and share.”
This move by Facebook echoes similar efforts made by the company in recent years. Last year, Facebook-owned photo-sharing app Instagram add a pop-up notification to discourage users from sharing offensive or abusive comments. The company stated that the results of the experiment showed that it encouraged users on the platform to engage in more positive behavior.
Facebook also stated that in its blog post that it is considering other kinds of warning that it can use to reduce misinformation including pop-up notifications related to the Wuhan coronavirus which would provide context about sources shared by users and steer them towards public health resources.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com