Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Inc., speaking on Sept. 27. (Photo : GettyImages/Bloomberg / Contributor)
Fake news is once again under the spotlight with Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook stating that "hoaxes on Facebook" are not wanted on the site compared to news that is grounded in facts.
With the recent focus on the deluge of fake news circulating on the Internet and criticism leveled on Facebook, it was only a matter of time before the social media site responded. The response came in the form of a sturdy denial from Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook who defended the website.
Sandberg was speaking during a Today show interview when she made the statement, that when people came on to Facebook they didn't want to see hoaxes. She made this particular observation in response to the question posed by the show's host Savannah Guthrie, who wanted to know if fake news was a big problem for Facebook. This benign language used by Sandberg is in stark contrast to the thriving cottage industry that surrounds fake news on Facebook, TechCrunch reported.
Importantly, Sandberg's comments on the proliferation of fake news on Facebook are being viewed with skepticism by many. This is mainly due to the fact that the social media site became a hotspot for a variety of fictitious news stories that portrayed Hillary Clinton in a negative light. After Clinton lost the US Presidential election in November many even faulted Facebook for helping make these stories popular.
Also Sandberg's comments are not being viewed as genuine as evidence is mounting that fake news stories turned out to be more popular than real news on Facebook, Buzzfeed reported. Importantly, the fallout of these fake news stories is still being felt and recently resulted in Edgar Maddison Welch bringing guns to a pizza outlet in Washington, DC, on Dec. 7 Wednesday and firing several shots.
The shooting carried out by Welch was a result of a fake news story dubbed "Pizzagate" that did the rounds on Facebook and other social media sites and is still believed by many. It is now clear that Facebook in spite of downplaying the role it played in popularizing fake news is taking steps to remove such content. Sandberg also finally stated that the social media site was working with third parties to better label fake news stories and thereby stop their spread.
Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, speaks to TODAY's Savannah Guthrie
