Facebook has added new features for Groups intended to help reduce the amount of misinformation shared between group members, the parent company announced goal. One of the options allows group admins to automatically disapprove posts that third-party fact checkers have determined contain false information so that the post is not shown to other members within the group.
This has been a big problem for Facebook; Since many Groups are private, harmful or incorrect information can spread quickly and with little oversight. Groups have been blamed for helping increase visibility of COVID-19 disinformation and another conspiracy theories and for providing a venue for bad actors to formulate plots to kidnap the governor of michigan and coordinate parts of the january 6 insurrection.
Facebook has taken some steps to try monitor users who violate group rules and in punishment groups what break their rules. also added tools for group administrators last year, which allowed them to limit how often some users can post and alert them to conversations that may be “contentious or unhealthy conversations” (though exactly how their AI would do that was unclear). But as with most of its attempts to try to rein in groups that spread misinformation or violate its policies, most of Facebook’s solutions came too late to the party, often reacting well after problematic content was posted. went viral.
In addition to allowing group admins to reject the posting of some content, Facebook has expanded the functionality of its “mute” feature, renaming it “suspend” so that admins and moderators can temporarily suspend members. The company says the new tools will allow admins to manage groups more efficiently and give them additional insights on how to grow their groups with “relevant audiences.”