Twitter and Facebook have come together in an attempt to improve the quality of information posted online. The social media firms have joined a network of more than 30 international organizations and media companies that are aiming to improve the quality of news presented online by removing fake news reports and hoaxes, reports CNET.
Twitter, Facebook join coalition
The First Draft Coalition was formed in June 2015 with Google’s support. The First Draft Coalition’s partner network includes outlets like CNN and The New York Times. The group intends to give training to journalists on how to use the web to find and report actual news.
In a blog post, Jenni Sargent, managing director of the coalition, wrote that there is a thriving community of specialists who have honed and developed social news gathering and verification skills. The First Draft Coalition promotes news literacy among social media users and will release a platform where users can verify questionable news stories and create a voluntary code of practice.
“With the launch of this partner network, First Draft brings these people together to work on ideas and initiatives, including a train-the-trainer programme, the launch of a collaborative verification platform, and the creation of a voluntary code of practice,” said Sargent.
The platform will be released by the end of October. In a statement, Áine Kerr, manager of journalism partnerships at Facebook, said the First Draft partner network represents an essential opportunity for the news industry to work on best practices, research, training and more.
Twitter is also excited to be part of the First Draft partner network. The micro-blogging site said it can collaboratively shape ethical guidelines, best practices and tools when it comes to finding and verifying eyewitness media.
Social media censured for hoax news
Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have become an important and popular medium of news for many. According to a report released by the Knight Foundation in May, only TV is ahead of social networks in terms of being a source of information. However, this increasing popularity has also increased phony news stories shared on social networking sites, notes CNET.
Last month, Facebook was censured for promoting a fake news story about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. The news claimed that the conservative media outlet Fox News had fired Kelly for supporting Hillary Clinton, who is the Democratic candidate for president of the United States.
