Facebook Fights Against Fake News Ahead of UK Elections with Newspaper Ads

Now that the French election is a thing of the past, Facebook is taking it upon itself to continue the fight against fake news in another European country - the United Kingdom. 

The social network is taking some precautionary steps ahead of the June General Elections in the UK by buying ad space in British newspapers and printing an anti-fake news leaflet. 

Facebook took out ads in several major newspapers, including The Times, the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian. The ads list ten things that users should look out for when deciding whether the information they read is genuine. 

Among the tips the social network is sharing with users is checking the headlines, URLs, photos and even the dates of the articles since it often happens for old articles to be shared after months or years and to be taken as if they were brand new by the readers. They also advise people to investigate the source, to watch for unusual formatting, to check the evidence, look at other reports...