Document Type : Original Article

Author

• Hossein Hassani

Assistant Professor Department of Virtual Space Studies , Research Center For Culture, Art And Communications, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the policy and mechanisms of global social media platforms to deal with fake news and disinformation. This process is complex and challenging and is done with the help of human and machine agents. In this article, the steps and methods of content moderation on Facebook and Twitter platforms have been analyzed in a documentary way to identify their mechanisms to deal with fake news content. The findings show that these two platforms, although they operate in the same political and economic context and under the same media policy, have different mechanisms to deal with false information, which originates from their general approach. Facebook’s general approach is to defend transparency and give voice to people. Therefore, instead of deleting it, it has taken the reduction of the visibility of this type of content. Still, Twitter, to ensure the health of the conversation, removes fake content more easily. Finally, it must be said that the corporatization of dealing with false information and fake news makes it more difficult for citizens to receive real news, and the public sphere and democracy face increasingly complex risks. On the other hand, the dominance of companies over monitoring news content makes governments like the Iranian government face new challenges from the point of view of internet governance.

Keywords

• social media
• fake news
• disinformation
• content moderation