Fact-checking has become an almost necessary component to running an online social media or digital media company. Many very large companies employ fact-checking services to help them with their large loads. Snopes is one of those services and has worked with Facebook since 2016 but the company is now ending its relationship with Facebook and moving on.
Facebook compensated Snopes nearly US$100,000 in 2017 for work the service did for Facebook. In a statement, Snopes said they are evaluating the consequences of providing third-party fact-checking services.
“At this time we are evaluating the ramifications and costs of providing third-party fact-checking services, and we want to determine with certainty that our efforts to aid any particular platform are a net positive for our online community, publication, and staff.”
Snopes
The Guardian reports that Snopes ended the relationship just weeks after some Snopes employees criticized Facebook for their feeble attempts at stopping fake content on their platform.
“They’ve essentially used us for crisis PR.”
The Guardian
Facebook did react to the decision Snopes made and in a statement said they respect the company’s choice.
“We value the work that Snopes has done, and respect their decision as an independent business. Fighting misinformation takes a multi-pronged approach from across the industry. We are committed to fighting this through many tactics, and the work that third-party fact-checkers do is a valued and important piece of this effort. We have strong relationships with 34 fact-checking partners around the world who fact-check content in 16 languages, and we plan to expand the program this year by adding new partners and languages.”
Facebook spokesperson
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[button link=”https://www.yahoo.com/news/snopes-quits-fact-checking-partnership-193507569.html” side=”left” target=”blank” color=”285b5e” textcolor=”ffffff”]Source: CNBC[/button]Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
