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Facebook is looking to hire ‘news credibility specialists’

Facebook is looking to hire ‘news credibility specialists’

User data privacy isn’t the only scandal currently rocking Facebook as the social media giant continues to grapple with its fake news problem.

Business Insider reports that a pair of job listings have emerged for what the company describes as ‘news credibility specialists’. Both are based in California.

“We’re seeking individuals with a passion for journalism, who believe in Facebook’s mission of making the world more connected,” one listing reads: “As a member of the team, you’ll be tasked with developing a deep expertise in Facebook’s News Credibility Program. You’ll be conducting investigations against predefined policies.”

Essentially the job involved creating a list of credible news organisations, which in turn will be used to help shape various features across the site.

Question of trust

Note that the job listings have since been removed, possibly because their very existence seems to contradict previous statements claiming that Facebook did not believe it was its role to act as the arbiter of truth.

Various proposals have been aired including surveying users about which news sources they do and do not want to see on their feeds, or instead relaying on third-party fact-checking from news specialists such as the Associated Press.

A Facebook spokesperson added: “We’re working to effectively identify and differentiate news and news sources across our platform.”

There was a time of course when humans were at the heart of Facebook creation. As has happened at many companies, however, these roles eventually switched to AI – the sometimes disastrous results of which have been well documented.

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