Fake news about Bangkok attack activates security check on Facebook

The safety check on Facebook, where people can indicate whether they are safe after a natural disaster or attack, was automatically activated on Tuesday. That happened after a lot of fake news surfaced about an attack in Bangkok.

News reports about an attack in Bangkok appeared on the social network, but they came from websites that spread fake news. According to The Verge, these were copied old reports of an attack that took place in 2015.

Facebook’s security check was automatically activated by an algorithm. Since November, Facebook has allowed the feature to be turned on automatically if the algorithm detects that there is an attack or disaster in a certain area. In November, a Facebook developer told The Verge that the algorithm first checks whether the news is real, but that system has failed.

Earlier this month, Facebook announced that the news it shared would be fact-checked. If users indicate that they have doubts about the authenticity of a news article on Facebook, they can indicate this and if enough reports are made, the article must be checked by journalists from other media.

Facebook introduced the safety check in 2014. Users who are in a disaster area are asked if they are safe. By answering that question, friends and acquaintances can see whether the person is safe. Previously, the feature was manually activated by the social network.