Brazil's Largest Newspaper Quits Facebook, Accuses it of Harboring 'Fake News'

http://globalvoices.org/2018/02/09/brazils-largest-newspaper-quits-facebook-accuses-it-of-harboring-fake-news/
Date Written:  2018-02-09
Publisher:  Global Voices
Year Published:  2018
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21984

The Brazilian media conglomerate Folha de S. Paulo, made the decision to rebel against Facebook by ceasing to publish content, saying the decision stems primarily from Facebook's recent change on users' news feed which aims to reduce the amount of content and favour posts by friends and family. The paper says Facebook is effectively banning professional journalism from its pages in favour of personal content and 'Fake News'.

Abstract: 
--

Excerpt:

For Brazilians who get most of their news on Facebook, this will mean that they won't be getting it from Folha in the future. But the editorial adds that Facebook had lost prominence among its distribution platforms even before the tech company announced its algorithm change. In a study conducted by Folha itself, which analyzed interactions in 51 Facebook pages from professional media outlets and 21 from "fake or sensational news" sites, showed that users’ interactions with the first group dropped by 17% from October to December 2017. Interactions with the second group ("fake and sensational news sites") rose by 61% in the same period.