Google and Facebook are both making policy changes that could severely impact the money making operations of fake news sites. Image INQUIRER.net
In the event that the accusations that fake news sites took a hand in the recent US presidential election results are proven true, Google and Facebook will pull out ads from those sites.
The move would effectively threaten the sites’ business mode, reports Gizmodo.
A Google spokesperson told Reuters, “Moving forward, we will restrict ad serving on pages that misrepresent, misstate, or conceal information about the publisher, the publisher’s content, or the primary purpose of the web property.”
Google’s new policy would cut off fake news sites from the largest source of pay-per-click adds and their source of income.
A Facebook spokesperson, on the other hand, stated, “We vigorously enforce our policies and take swift action against sites and apps that are found to be in violation. Our team will continue to closely vet all prospective publishers and monitor existing ones to ensure compliance.”
The two companies have been taking a lot of heat for facilitating the spread of fake news that might have swayed voters’ decisions. Hopefully their policy changes will be able to overcome the tide of misinformation from fake news sites. Alfred Bayle