Facebook Struggles With New Fact-Checking Tools As German Election Looms

With Germany facing a general election on Sept. 24, the government is pressuring Facebook Inc FB and other social media sites to do a better job of rooting out fake stories and hate speech, though results so far have been mixed.

Since April, Facebook has partnered with reporters at the German investigative news organization Correctiv, which started a website called Echtjetzt - ”really, now?” - to ferret out false information.

Politico reported that while Correctiv journalists say that Facebook’s fact-checking tool helps, it's “very often not relevant” and doesn’t explain how a story is gaining traction on the social network, said journalist Jacques.

The tool requires a second team of fact-checkers, independent from Correctiv, which publishes news articles on its own website debunking bogus stories.

Facebook Still Working Out Kinks

A Facebook spokesperson told Politico that it's “testing and are in close conversations with the ecosystem on how the product is best [deployed].”

Facebook first used the tool to allow users to report stories as misleading during the French presidential race.

German lawmakers, many alarmed by the prevalence of fake stories during last year’s U.S. election campaigns, passed a law making social networks liable for fines up to $53 million fail to give users the option to complain about hate speech and fake news or refuse to remove illegal content.

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Europe Steps Up Its Attack On Facebook