Meanwhile German politicians were quick to stress that they will enforce a $500,000 penalty to Facebook for every fake news item published on the social network, along with further damages if the story has affected any German citizens. These actions come following the publication of false stories last week about German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is currently seeking re-election.

This poses a dilemma; how do we deal with fake news? Facebook has become the face of fake news in recent months and some even went as far as to say it influenced the US elections. As a result, marketers are challenging whether Facebook is a social media company or a news organisation. Most ad executives are convinced that Facebook is a news organisation like the Guardian, BBC or the Washington Post and therefore believe that it should be bound by the same rules as any other media organisation in regards to checking the validity and accuracy of stories before releasing them. However, social media companies argue that advertising agencies push the limits when it comes to the truth in order to deceive consumers for personal gain.

In short, we may continue to be deceived by fake news as more people rely on the Internet and its subsequent algorithms to search for and access news stories, and rely less on traditional media agencies.

mraadmin