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Facebook Lost Its Final Fact-Checker In The Netherlands

Facebook is all about the checking facts, apart from course when it lets politicians to lie. That was made obvious in the Netherlands, where NU.nl (a newspaper) just ended as fact-checking partner of Facebook in the Netherlands. “What is the point of dealing with false news if you are not permitted to deal with politicians?” Gert-Jaap Hoekman (the editor-in-chief) asked. “Let one thing be obvious: we stand in support of the content of our fact checks.”

The issue began when NU.nl tagged an ad from Esther de Lange (the Dutch politician) as fake, claiming it could not be confirmed. Facebook then entered, informing the newspaper that speech of a politician cannot be fact-checked.

While advertising guidelines of Facebook do not permit misinformation, it officially excluded politicians in September from this rule. “Moving forward we will consider politicians’ speech as newsworthy material that must, as a standard rule, be heard and seen,” wrote Nick Clegg (Facebook VP).

This policy displeased critics, specifically after ads came into view on Facebook from 2020 ad campaign of President Trump repeating debunked theories of conspiracy about Ukraine. Even after Twitter claimed it might no longer permit political ads on the service, Facebook did not budge from its place.

NU.nl became the only fact-checker of Facebook in the Netherlands after Leiden University, another group, ended the deal in 2018. It claimed that it had already become itchy with Facebook’s stand on ads related to politics, and made a decision to end the association when Facebook would not alter its place on the politician’s ad.

“We respect the work that Nu.nl has done and feel sorry to see them go, but honor their move as an independent venture,” a spokesperson at Facebook claimed to the media. “We have solid ties with 55 partners for fact-checking all over the world who fact-check material in 45 languages.”

Charles Woll
Charles Woll Author
Chief Marketing Manager At News Magazine 24

Charles is a Chief Marketing Manager at our company. He is good at content marketing, his job duties include all social media-related marketing, blogging, and publishing related operations. Charles is with us from last 5 Years and has pursued a post-graduate diploma in marketing management. In his free time, he guides team-mates regarding business and share thoughts on media-related content.

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