BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Facebook targets 'false news' amid growing pressure from advertisers

  • Published
    30 June 2020
Share page
About sharing
An advert that is part of Facebook's new social media literacy campaignImage source, Facebook
Image caption,

Facebook's new media literacy campaign will ask users questions about what they see online

ByMarianna Spring
Specialist disinformation and social media reporter

Facebook is launching a campaign to help people spot fake news amid a growing advertising boycott putting pressure on the company to tackle misinformation and hate speech.

Steve Hatch, Facebook's vice president for Northern Europe, says the media literacy campaign launched with fact-checkers FullFact is evidence that the company is "listening and adapting".

But some experts and critics argue the effort across the UK, Europe, Africa and the Middle East is "too little, too late".

The campaign will direct people to the website StampOutFalseNews.com, external and ask users key questions about what they see online: "Where's it from?" "What's missing?" and "How did you feel?"

Seven ways to stop fake news from going viral

In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Mr Hatch says "financial considerations" are not behind the new ads.

In recent days, more than 150 companies - including Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Unilever - have announced temporary halts to advertising buys on Facebook as a result of the #StopHateForProfit campaign.

  • Could a boycott kill Facebook?

Facebook's Steve Hatch says the company is working to stop coronavirus fakes
Image caption,

Facebook's Steve Hatch says the company is working to stop coronavirus fakes

'Night and day'

Misinformation or viral "fake news" has been a persistent issue for years on the social network, and it flared up dramatically after the emergence of Covid-19.

In May, a BBC investigation found links between coronavirus misinformation and assaults, arsons and deaths, with potential - and potentially much greater - indirect harm caused by rumours, conspiracy theories and bad health advice.

  • The human cost of virus misinformation

  • The (almost) complete history of 'fake news'

Mr Hatch says Facebook employees have working "night and day" to tackle false claims during the pandemic.

"If people were sharing information that could cause real-world harm, we will take that down. We've done that in hundreds of thousands of cases," he says.

But the media literacy effort is "too little too late" says Chloe Colliver, head of the digital research unit at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, an anti-extremism think tank.

"We've seen Facebook try to take reactive and often quite small steps to stem the tide of disinformation on the platform," Ms Colliver says. "But they haven't been able to proactively produce policies that help prevent users from seeing disinformation, false identities, false accounts, and false popularity on their platforms." Facebook also owns Instagram and WhatsApp.

Under pressure

Facebook and other social media companies have also come under pressure over misleading information or comments that could arguably incite violence, in particular posts by US President Donald Trump.

Following widespread protests after the death of George Floyd, the President warned: "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

The post was hidden by Twitter for "glorifying violence", but remained on Facebook.

Mr Hatch says that the US president's posts "come under a high level of scrutiny" by Facebook bosses. Echoing earlier comments by chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, he denied that the comment in question broke Facebook's rules, and stated that the company interpreted it as a reference to the possible use of National Guard troops.

"Whether you're a political figure or anyone on the platform," Mr Hatch says, you will be reprimanded for sharing posts that could cause real-world harm.

Is there a story we should be investigating? Email us, external.

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Israeli cabinet due to discuss Gaza plan that would bring ceasefire and hostage release

    • 12740 viewing13k viewing
  • Jeremy Bowen: There's now a realistic chance of ending the war - but it's not over yet

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • What we know about the Gaza ceasefire deal

    • Published
      2 hours ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Alan Carr on the Celebrity Traitors, sitting in an armchair and smiling
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

    A young man, with long dark brown hair and a brown beard and moustache , sits next to a hospital bed. He has a bandage on his neck.
  • My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

    Victoria Beckham waves while wearing a white suit with other people in the background as she attends the Victoria Beckham premiere in London on Wednesday.
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • Would leaving the ECHR really 'stop the boats'?

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Man who appealed Pelicot rape conviction handed longer jail term

  2. 2

    Former Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood charged with four counts of rape

  3. 3

    Tesla investigated over self-driving cars on wrong side of road

  4. 4

    My eating disorder made me good at lying, says Victoria Beckham

  5. 5

    Alleged McCann stalker 'sent creepy messages'

  6. 6

    Jeremy Bowen: There's now a realistic chance of ending the war - but it's not over yet

  7. 7

    'I missed a £100 council tax bill while in hospital – the debt ballooned to £6k'

  8. 8

    Water bills to rise further for millions after appeal

  9. 9

    Met officers face fast-track hearings after Panorama investigation

  10. 10

    Five ways abolishing stamp duty could change the housing market

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

The Celebrity Traitors

  • An all-star cast enters the ultimate game of deceit

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • All the betrayal and drama unpacked

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
  • Meet the Celebrity Traitors as the mind games begin

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    The Celebrity Traitors has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    The Celebrity Traitors
  • A treacherously good version of a pop classic

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    BBC Proms has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    BBC Proms 2025: Britney Spears
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.