These days we could all use a bullshit detector.
And that’s exactly what programmer Daniel Sieradski has come up with.
A simple Chrome Extension, B.S. Detector will help you to identify fake news stories on the world’s most popular social media platform Facebook, which means that you won’t see the kinds of stories that reportedly helped to swing the US Presidential election for Donald Trump.
After installing the extension, a red warning will appear over stories that link back to sites who routinely post false stories; these include fake news sites, satire sites, and untrustworthy sources from all political leanings.
Creator Daniel Sieradski said: “I built this in about an hour yesterday after reading Zuck’s BS about not being able to flag fake news sites. Of course you can. It just takes having a spine to call out nonsense. This is just a proof of concept at this point, but it works well enough.”
(Photo by Kim White/Getty Images)
He also explained how it works: “I’ve compiled a list of domains that are well-known sources of fake news, conspiracy theory, innuendo, and unsourced claims. The domains cover the political spectrum from left to right and I have done my absolute best to be impartial in my selections.”
Facebook recently announced a crackdown on fake news sites’ ability to use their advertising network, but have been slow to launch an outright ban on stories that have no truth to them.
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg recently claimed that 99% of what appears in people’s feeds was authentic, but has admitted that steps need to be taken to stop the dissemination of false news.
He said that steps are being taken to make sure it is easier for people to report news that is fake, while they will work with journalists and other trusted third parties to make sure what we see on our feeds is the real thing.
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