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Faced with the scope of manipulation on their sites, the tech
giants are taking steps to stop fake news in its tracks. “The abuse
of our platform to attempt state-sponsored manipulation of elec-
tions is a new challenge for us—and one that we are determined

to meet,” Twitter’s acting general counsel, Sean Edgett, said
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during a 2017 hearing before Congress.

Facebook Acts
Each company is tackling the problem in its own way. Facebook

has begun asking its users to fl ag questionable stories. When
enough users fl ag the same story, the company sends it to an
outside fact-checking organization. If the story fails fact-checking,
Facebook publicly fl ags it as being disputed by a third-party fact-
checker. Users can click on a link that explains why the story is dis-
puted. If they share the story, they receive another warning about
its questionable accuracy. In
“We’re ramping up our fact- addition, Facebook is focus-
checking efforts to fi ght false ing on identifying fake news in-
news around elections.” 55 tended to infl uence an election.
“We’re ramping up our fact-
—Facebook product manager Tessa Lyons
checking efforts to fi ght false

news around elections . . . expanding beyond links to photos and
videos, and increasing transparency,” says Facebook product
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manager Tessa Lyons.
Along with increased fact-checking, Facebook is working to
remove fake accounts and pages. The social media giant an-
nounced that during the fi rst three months of 2018, it had dis-
abled 583 million fake accounts. The company has become more
vigilant in its efforts to identify accounts and pages controlled by
the Russian Internet Research Agency. US intelligence services
have linked this group to fake news and divisive content on social
media during the 2016 presidential election. In April 2018 Face-
book announced that it had removed more than 270 accounts

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