Facebook has now activated its software to filter out fake news, meaning all stories on the social media site can be accepted as true, it has emerged.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg revealed he wanted to clamp down on false articles being shared on his Facebook news feeds – and ordered his coding experts to develop a way of filtering them out.
Tests were successful and now all Facebook users will be protected from fake news and misinformation, which has been blamed on influencing everything from the US election to people’s perception of Norfolk.
Already Facebook users are reporting a difference on their Facebook news feed, with no sign of questionable stories from US President Donald Trump’s office for propaganda.
Also now banned from appearing on Facebook are many articles from British newspapers such as the Daily Mail and The Sun, which are said to skew the truth far too often.
But respected news sources like the Suffolk Gazette can be shared on Facebook as usual without penalty.
He declined to reveal how the fake filter works, but did say it is one of the most intricate pieces of software coding to ever come out of California.
A spokesman for the Suffolk Gazette said: “This is a great victory for independent and honest news publishers like the Suffolk Gazette. For too long people have been sharing made-up rubbish on Facebook, and these types of stories have unfortunately influenced people.
“Now we are honoured that Facebook has given us accreditation to continue publishing stories that can be shared by millions of people on Facebook.”