Did Facebook Just Kickstart the Real Infowar?

dirge Fri Dec 16, 2016 6:34 pm

Facebook detailed a new plan Thursday to target the rapid spread of fake news across its site, a phenomenon that received renewed attention in the weeks following the 2016 election, with accusations that it may have influenced the behavior of voters.
The problem reached a breaking point two weeks ago when a gunman entered a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C., to investigate an internet-based conspiracy theory about a child-sex ring that does not exist.

Now the move from the internet’s largest social-media platform has some intentional fake-news writers, who created their websites to “satirize” right-wing conspiracies or exploit Facebook’s algorithm, believing they’ll soon be out of business.

But the new program also has conspiracy theorists, ones who believe Hillary Clinton’s fictitious ties to the occult are the “real news,” excitedly drawing battle lines over the future of the news on social media.

Should Facebook’s fact-check initiative take off and result in censorship of propagandist sites, editors at websites like Infowars and alt-right leaders insist it will only reinforce the belief that certain ideas are being suppressed in favor of facts from mainstream outlets. One editor told The Daily Beast the Facebook plan proves that now the “‘Infowar’ isn’t a cliché, it’s perfectly apt.”
If Facebook’s experiment is applied correctly, authors of intentionally fake news face a potential hurdle for generating advertising revenue for their sites, if not the banning of their stories from the social network outright

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/12/16/did-facebook-just-kickstart-the-real-infowar.html

I said this would happen due to the irresponsibility of those who post these bullshit stories, but I believe it is the wrong way to combat fake news. As the conspiracy loons, will just claim they are trying to be silence. A far easier way is that each fake news printed, should be then highlighted as fake news. An application can do this simply, by picking up any news stories from these websites and then to have a rebuttal showing the true facts within a day. It would mean a team taking on these fake news sites, but it would be the best way to embarrass them and ensure they lose all credibility. It would cost money, but it would be well worth it