We're committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook and Instagram. In certain countries and regions, we work with third-party fact-checkers who are certified through the non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network to help identify and review false news.

Q: HOW DO WE REDUCE THE DISTRIBUTION OF FALSE NEWS?

• Identifying false news: We identify news that may be false using signs such as feedback from people on Facebook. Fact-checkers may also identify stories to review on their own.
• Reviewing content: Fact-checkers will review content, check its facts and rate its accuracy.
• Ensuring that fewer people see misinformation: if a fact-checker rates content as false, it will appear lower in News Feed, or will be filtered out of discovery surfaces on Instagram. This significantly reduces the number of people who see it.
• Taking action against repeat offenders: Pages and websites that repeatedly share false news will have some restrictions, including having their distribution reduced. They may also have their ability to monetise and advertise removed, and their ability to register as a news Page removed.

Learn about fact-checking on Facebook or see below for FAQs that are relevant to publishers.

Q: WHO ARE FACEBOOK'S THIRD-PARTY FACT-CHECKING PARTNERS?

A: We work with many third-party fact-checkers certified through a non-partisan international fact-checking network. See table below.

Q: WHAT CONTENT IS ELIGIBLE FOR FACT-CHECKING?

A: Fact-checkers can review and rate public, newsworthy Facebook and Instagram posts, including ads, with articles, photos or videos.

Q: HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO POSTS AND ADS FROM POLITICIANS?

A. Posts and ads from politicians are generally not subjected to fact-checking. In evaluating when this applies, we ask our fact-checking partners to look at politicians at every level. This means candidates running for office, current office holders – and, by extension, many of their cabinet appointees – along with political parties and their leaders. In some cases, we ask fact-checkers to use their expertise and judgment to determine whether an individual is a politician, like in the case of a part-time elected official.

Former candidates for office or former officials continue to be covered by our third-party fact-checking programme. That remains true for organisations such as Super PACs or advocacy organisations that are unaffiliated with candidates.

There will be some instances where a false or partly false rating from our fact-checking partners will affect politicians. When a politician shares a specific piece of content – i.e. a link to an article, video or photo created by someone else that has been previously debunked on Facebook – we will demote that content, display a warning and reject its inclusion in ads. This is different from a politician's own claim or statement. If a claim is made directly by a politician on their Page, in an ad or on their website, it is considered direct speech and ineligible for our third-party fact-checking programme – even if the substance of that claim has been debunked elsewhere. Ads about social issues, elections or politics are held to a higher transparency standard on Facebook. All inactive and active ads run by politicians on Facebook will be housed in the publicly available, searchable Ad Library for up to seven years.

Q. WHY ARE POLITICIANS NOT ELIGIBLE?

A. Our approach is grounded in Facebook's fundamental belief in free expression, respect for the democratic process and the belief that, especially in mature democracies with a free press, political speech is the most scrutinised speech there is. Just as critically, by limiting political speech, we would leave people less informed about what their elected officials are saying and leave politicians less accountable for their words.

Q: WHAT ARE THE RATING OPTIONS FOR THIRD-PARTY FACT-CHECKERS?

A: For each piece of content up for review, the third-party fact-checker will be asked: "How accurate is this story? Provide your rating below." Facebook's third-party fact-checker product provides nine rating options:

1. False: The primary claim(s) of the content is/are factually inaccurate. This generally corresponds to "false" or "mostly false" ratings on fact-checkers' sites.
2. Partly false: The claim(s) of the content is/are a mix of accurate and inaccurate, or the primary claim is misleading or incomplete.
3. True: The primary claim(s) of the content is/are factually accurate. This generally corresponds to "true" or "mostly true" ratings on fact-checkers' sites.
4. False headline: The primary claim(s) of the article body content is/are true, but the primary claim within the headline is factually inaccurate.
5. Not eligible: The content contains a claim that is not verifiable, was true at the time of writing, or from a website or Page with the primary purpose of expressing the opinion or agenda of a political figure.
6. Satire: The content is posted by a Page or domain that is a known satire publication, or a reasonable person would understand the content to be irony or humour with a social message. It still may benefit from additional context.
7. Opinion: The content advocates for ideas and draws conclusions based on the interpretation of facts and data, and tells the public what the author or contributor thinks about an event or issue. Opinion pieces may include reported facts or quotes, but emphasise the author's own thoughts, personal preferences and conclusions. This may include editorials, endorsements or content labelled "opinion" in the headline, authored by an identified opinion columnist or shared from a website or Page with the main purpose of expressing the opinions or agendas of public figures, think tanks, NGOs and businesses.
8. Prank generator: Websites that allow users to create their own "prank" news stories to share on social media sites.
9. Not rated: This is the default state before fact-checkers have fact-checked content or if the URL is broken. Leaving it in this state (or returning to this rating from another rating) means that we should take no action based on your rating.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF UNPAID FACEBOOK CONTENT (ORGANIC) I CREATED OR SHARED IS RATED "FALSE", "PARTLY FALSE" OR "FALSE HEADLINE" BY A FACT-CHECKER?

A: First, that content's distribution will be reduced. It will appear lower in News Feed, and will appear with a warning. If people try to share the content, they will be notified of the additional reporting. They will also be notified if content that they have shared in the past has since been rated by a fact-checker.

Second, in order to more effectively fight false news, we also take action against Pages and domains that repeatedly share or publish content which is rated "False". Such Pages and domains will see their distribution reduced as the number of offences increases. Their ability to monetise and advertise will be removed after repeated offences. Over time, Pages and domains can restore their distribution and ability to monetise and advertise if they stop sharing false news.

Third, Pages and domains that repeatedly publish or share false news will also lose their ability to register as a news Page on Facebook. If a registered news Page repeatedly shares false news, its news Page registration will be revoked.

Publishers who issue a correction or dispute a rating may contact the fact-checker. If their correction or dispute is successful, the strike against them will be eliminated and associated ad disapprovals may be lifted (advertisers are still required to follow our other Advertising Policies).

Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF PAID CONTENT (ADS) I CREATED OR SHARED IS RATED "FALSE" BY A FACT-CHECKER?

A: Per our Advertising Policies, we do not allow advertisers to run ads that contain content that has been marked false, or is similar to content marked false, by third-party fact-checkers. We disapprove ads that contain content rated false, which means these ads can't run.

If an ad is disapproved for containing misinformation, we notify advertisers in two ways:

1. A Page admin notification, which specifies the third-party fact-checker that rated their content false
2. An ad disapproval notification in their ads creation interface (e.g. Ads Manager)

Advertisers may get in touch directly with the third-party fact-checker that rated their content to issue a correction for, or dispute a rating of, content the advertiser created. The fact-checking partners can be contacted through the email addresses provided below.

In cases where ads are rejected for containing content that's similar to content already marked false by fact-checkers, advertisers may request that the match get re-reviewed through the ad disapproval notification. The veracity of the content cannot be disputed via this channel.

If an advertiser's correction or dispute is successful, the associated ad disapproval will be lifted, provided that we have not identified additional breaches of our Advertising Policies.

Q. HOW DOES FACT-CHECKING APPLY TO INSTAGRAM?

A: When content has been rated as False or Partly false by a third-party fact-checker, we reduce its distribution by removing it from Explore and hashtag pages. In addition, it will be labelled so people can better decide for themselves what to read, trust and share. When these labels are applied, they will appear to everyone around the world viewing that content – in feed, profile, stories and direct messages.

For more on fact-checking on Instagram, please visit the Instagram Info Centre.

Q: WHAT HAPPENS IF MY CONTENT IS CONSISTENTLY MARKED AS FALSE BY FACT-CHECKERS?

A: Pages that repeatedly publish or share misinformation will see their distribution reduced and their ability to monetise and advertise removed.

Q: HOW DOES FACT-CHECKING AFFECT SOCIAL MEDIA DOMAINS OR HOSTING SITES?

A: Links from other social media domains or hosting sites can be fact-checked; however, these sites will be not be eligible to see their overall distribution reduced, or lose their ability to monetise and advertise.

Q: IF A PAGE ADMIN SHARES "FALSE" CONTENT THAT IT DID NOT CREATE, CAN IT PURSUE A CORRECTION OR DISPUTE WITH RESPECT TO THAT CONTENT?

A: Page admins are responsible for the content that they share with their audiences – even if that content isn't created by them. Page admins cannot pursue a correction or dispute. However, if the publisher that wrote the content successfully issues a correction or disputes the rating, the Page's strike will be lifted.

Please note that simply deleting a post is not sufficient to eliminate the strike against the Page or domain.

Over time, Pages and domains can restore their distribution and ability to monetise and advertise if they stop sharing false news.