Pages sharing fake news can’t buy ads: Facebook

San Francisco, Aug 29 (IANS) Taking ahead its battle against the spread of fake news and misinformation, Facebook has decided to stop Pages that share fake news regularly from buying any ads from the company.

According to a TechCrunch report on Monday, when a story is marked as disputed on the social media platform, the link can no longer be promoted through the platform’s ads.

Facebook is already working in collaboration with fact-checkers like Snopes and the AP to detect news stories which are outright hoaxes and lies.

This is one of the many steps the social media giant has taken since last year after it was criticised for its role in helping to spread fake news which had an impact on the US presidential elections.

"Facebook has been trying to fight back in three ways — ending the economic incentive to post false news stories, slowing the spread of those stories and helping people make more informed decisions when they see a false story," Rob Leathern, Facebook’s Product Director, was quoted as saying.

According to Facebook, the ban on buying ads is not necessarily permanent.

"If a Page stops sharing false stories, it should eventually be able to buy ads again," the company said.