Two days after firing its human Trending Topics editors, Facebook surfaced a fabricated story about Megyn Kelly
Published · updated · curated by AI Is Going Just Great
Source: theguardian.com ↗
Facebook's hoax detection system relies on user-submitted notifications that a link is fishy; if users don't spot a story is a dud, neither does Facebook.
On a Friday, Facebook laid off up to 26 contractors who wrote and edited the descriptions attached to Trending Topics, handing the job to an algorithm in a bid to reduce bias. On Sunday, a story headlined "Breaking: Fox News Exposes Traitor Megyn Kelly, Kicks Her Out for Backing Hillary" appeared in the trending list. It was not true.
Facebook says humans are still involved, to "confirm that a topic is tied to a current news event in the real world." Its hoax detection runs on user-submitted reports that a link is fishy, so a fabricated story stays up for as long as readers keep falling for it. The same month, false reports of gunmen triggered mass panic at JFK on 14 August and LAX on 28 August, and Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to let users trigger Safety Check themselves during emergencies. "Machines think in black and white," said Mandy Jenkins, head of news at Storyful. "I don't think verification can be automated yet." Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.