A Use Case for Machine Learning: How Facebook Uses Machine Learning to Combat Fake News

This paper will focus on Facebook’s use of machine learning to manage political content on its site. Today, with platforms like Facebook, content is being generated by a wider range of sources, which has eroded the credibility of the political information on Facebook. Recently, we have seen this occur with the proliferation of “fake news”, specifically falsified political information. This development has significant implications for Facebook and risks alienating its user based which can impact its bottom line and user base. It is Facebook’s mission to create a constructive community that brings people together to create positive experiences. False news is “harmful to [their] community” and “makes the world less informed” which inherently “erodes trust” with its users. In this context, using machine learning and other statistical tools to identify inaccurate and manipulated information is paramount to Facebook’s efforts to combat the spread of such information.