Researchers found out that there was a big spike in suspicious adds filling our timelines during the 2017 US elections. Most of these adds can be linked to Russian groups who are trying to establish their world-dominance. They are the ones who are actively trying to destabilise our country and want to incite violence by filling our timelines with bogus articles (Fake News).
“In total, Facebook found about 3,000 suspicious ads, which generated $100,000 in revenue, that ran between June 2015 and May 2017. The ads were connected to about 470 fake user accounts and pages, which were affiliated with one another and likely operated out of Russia.”
So, do we want Facebook to become a platform for Russian Propaganda? Or do we want it to be a safe place where every opinion is valid?
What can we do?
- Check if an article is ‘sponsored’.
- Do some research on the page that posted the article: Who posted it? What is their agenda?
- Is the post supported by sources?
- Flag an article when things seem dodgy so Facebook can review it.
- And last but not least: do not share dodgy articles!
Sources: the Verge, the Washington Post
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