Facebook has added a new tool to alert users when they are reading old news content.
It comes as the social media platform continues to look for ways to fight the spread of misinformation on the platform.
Making the announcement, Facebook VP of feed and stories John Hegeman said it will help users make better decisions when it comes to sharing information on Facebook.
“When we ask people what kind of news they want to see on Facebook, they continually tell us they want information that is timely and credible,” Hegeman said.
“Today, we’re starting to globally roll out a notification screen that will let people know when news articles they are about to share are more than 90 days old.
“To ensure people have the context they need to make informed decisions about what to share on Facebook, the notification screen will appear when people click the share button on articles older than 90 days, but will allow people to continue sharing if they decide an article is still relevant.”
Hegeman said Facebook’s internal research shows the timeliness of an article is an important piece of context for users when it comes to trusting news.
“News publishers in particular have expressed concerns about older stories being shared on social media as current news, which can misconstrue the state of current events,” Hegeman said.
“Some news publishers have already taken steps to address this on their own websites by prominently labeling older articles to prevent outdated news from being used in misleading ways.”
There will be additional tools for information about COVID-19 information in the coming months.
