Why Facebook is turning to a conservative website for fact checking
Facebook knows that the spread of fake news on the platform during the 2016 presidential campaign was almost its undoing, so it has chosen to partner with third-party media organizations to fact-check publishers on its platform in order to stave off more criticism. That makes sense. But some of its choices in partners — including a new fact-checker funded by a right-leaning news outlet founded by Tucker Carlson — has only invited more.
Last week, Facebook announced that it’s partnering with Check Your Fact — a subsidiary of the right-wing Daily Caller, a site known for its ties to white nationalists — as one of six third-party organizations it currently works with to fact-check content for American users. The partnership has already come under intense criticism from climate journalists (among others) who are concerned that the Daily Caller’s editorial stance on issues like climate change, which is uncontroversial among scientists but isn’t treated as such on right-wing media, will spread even more misinformation Facebook.