Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Facebook will block publishers from advertising if they share fake news

No more fake news.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Drew Angerer / Getty

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.

More in Technology

Future Perfect
The 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAIThe 5 most unhinged revelations from Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI
Future Perfect

The Musk v. OpenAI trial is over. Here are the receipts.

By Sara Herschander
Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady