- Facebook (FB -0.2%) is fighting on another front today, responding to a scathing Guardian piece suggesting journalists are fleeing a high-profile fact-checking program that the company set up to combat fake news but which is now in disarray.
- The report says current and former fact-checkers say their collaboration with Facebook has produced minimal results and that they've lost trust in the company. "They've essentially used us for crisis PR," says the former managing editor of Snopes.
- Facebook says it provided info to The Guardian but the paper chose not to include all of it. "Contrary to a claim in the story, we absolutely do not ask fact-checkers to prioritize debunking content about our advertisers," the company says, arguing that instead potential fake news is surfaced via machine learning.
- In response to another claim in the story -- that Facebook has repeatedly refused to release meaningful data about the impact of the fact-checking effort -- the company says it's heard feedback and "we’re starting to send fact-checkers quarterly reports that include customized statistics that reflect the work and impact of each fact-checker."
- Now read: Buy Facebook: A Deep Dive On Valuation
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