Maldita.es joins Facebook's external fact-checking program: 11 questions and answers about what we are going to do

What is Facebook’s third-party fact-checking program?

It is an initiative that Facebook launched following the rise of disinformation during the 2016 U.S. elections to combat hoaxes on its platform. Since then, the program has been implemented in almost 30 countries in collaboration with fact-checking teams certified by the International Fact-Checking Network, the international alliance of independent fact-checkers of which Maldita.es is a member.

Why is Maldita.es joining Facebook’s third-party fact-checking program?

we work every day to help clean the information ecosystem of hoaxes and manipulations so that citizens can form opinions based on data and verified facts. Given that in Spain, 48% of the population gets its news through Facebook, according to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report, we believe it is important to monitor and verify potential disinformation circulating on this platform, a task we’ve been doing for several years.

However, this new partnership with Facebook allows us not only to independently verify false content: the platform will alert users who have shared a hoax when Maldita.es debunks it and will also reduce the circulation of what we flag as false. This allows us to have more impact and reach more people who may be falling for lies.

Will Facebook have any control over Maldita.es‘s fact-checking?

Facebook will have absolutely no control over what and how Maldita.es verifies misleading content on the platform. Maldita.es will continue to fact-check as before, following its methodology.

How does Maldita.es find what to verify on Facebook?

At Maldita.es we will have access to a list of questionable content circulating on Facebook and subject to verification. This list is compiled considering several aspects:

• User feedback on Facebook: if they consider a post unreliable, they can mark it as «false news».
• Evaluation of the content by Facebook’s artificial intelligence.
• Maldita.es journalists can independently include posts flagged as suspicious by our community, even if Facebook’s algorithm hasn’t identified them.

In any case, the list is only a suggestion of what users and the algorithm identify as false: Maldita.es can decide to verify only what it manually adds to that list, ignoring what the Facebook algorithm flags.

What are you going to verify?

We can verify links, images, and videos, which can be classified into up to nine categories: false, mixed, false title, true, not applicable, satire, opinion, prank news source, and unrated.

Maldita.es will continue to rigorously apply its methodology as always when debunking.

What happens when Maldita.es rates content as false, mixed or false headline?

When Maldita.esor any other independent fact-checker in the program categorizes a post as false, mixed or false headline, Facebook says it carries out two actions:

• Reduces the distribution of the content by up to 80% to minimize exposure. The false message will appear lower in the Facebook News Feed. According to Facebook, content will only be removed if it violates their terms of service.
• For users, when someone is going to share content considered false, they will be alerted and shown the denial or the explanatory article written by Maldita.es . In addition, those users who have shared the hoax will receive a message alerting them that what they have shared is false: it will be the user’s decision whether after being alerted they delete it or not.

What happens when a Facebook page repeatedly publishes false information?

Facebook will reduce the distribution of pages that spread hoaxes and misinformation, including media pages. Those that do so repeatedly may lose the ability to monetize and advertise on Facebook services. Independent fact-checkers like Maldita.es don’t know how many negative ratings are needed for this measure to be applied, which can be reversed if the websites stop spreading false news after an unspecified period.

Can media whose content is marked as «false» appeal?

Yes. Media pages that have shared the content marked as «false» will be automatically notified by the social network, can review the check, and respond to Maldita.es‘s evaluation. This response must be made within a week of being notified of the debunking and will be done through a form provided on the platform. This appeal form has been implemented progressively since November 15, 2021, and is not available for all pages. As Facebook explains in its business help service, these pages must appeal via email to [email protected]. The appeal can be of two types:

• A correction: where false information is corrected and explicitly mentioned. To be fair and consistent in managing corrections, we have developed a correction policy that you can read here.
• A dispute: where the affected media clearly explains why the fact-check is incorrect.

If the correction is made or the dispute has a positive outcome, the content penalty will be removed, and the measures against the page or domain will be lifted. You can read more about this process here.

Will Maldita.es have access to Facebook users’ personal data?

No, in no case will Maldita.es have access to Facebook users’ personal data.

Is Facebook paying Maldita.es for this service?

Like all fact-checkers in this program, Maldita.es is paid for the service it provides to the platform. All the debunkings we do as part of this agreement with Facebook will be published here: https://maldita.es/maldito-bulo-fb/

Does Maldita.es believe this can help reduce disinformation?

Any effort by the different entities involved in this issue helps move towards a possible solution. While the presence of independent fact-checkers on Facebook can help reduce hoaxes or at least help citizens identify them more quickly, Facebook and other platforms need to share data transparently about how disinformation circulates and the impact of third-party verification initiatives to realistically evaluate their impact and plan the next steps in this fight against lies.

Furthermore, at Maldita.es, we believe that it is important not only to identify and debunk hoaxes to keep citizens informed but also to provide them with tools to identify, verify, and debunk disinformation on their own. That’s why we created La Buloteca: a space where citizens can learn to fact-check, fostering critical thinking and creating tools to prevent them from being fooled.

If you have any questions about this agreement with Facebook or any other maldita thing, you can ask us at [email protected].