Facebook establishes a department to monitor fake news.
According to the New York Times and The Guardian, to protect the upcoming European Parliament elections later this month, Facebook has set up an operations room to monitor misinformation and fake accounts.
The effort is designed to prevent widespread disinformation campaigns that could influence elections.
The New York Times reported that this room operates similarly to the information monitoring room that Facebook established in October 2018 before the 2018 US midterm elections and the elections in Brazil.
Facebook also established a similar information monitoring center in Delhi ahead of this year's elections in India.
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| Facebook is working to prevent widespread disinformation campaigns that could influence elections. |
The two newspapers also reported that this new information monitoring room, located at Facebook's European headquarters in Ireland, will be open throughout the upcoming election period – which takes place from May 23 to 26.
In January, Facebook announced a series of new tools, which would later launch in March, designed to help prevent foreign interference in the upcoming election and make political advertising on Facebook more transparent.
The Guardian notes that this information monitoring team has around 40 people, fluent in all 24 official EU languages. This group reviews content flagged by automated systems or by users and makes recommendations on whether or not it should be removed.