Facebook to label state-owned media outlets’ posts and pages

Facebook announced Thursday it will start labelling pages and posts from state-controlled media. These labels will start appearing on the Facebook pages of Russia Today and China’s Xinhua, warning users that these are state-controlled outlets.

“We’re providing greater transparency into these publishers because they combine the influence of a media organization with the strategic backing of a state,” Nathan Gleicher, head of cybersecurity policy at Facebook, wrote in blog post on Thursday. “We believe people should know if the news they read is coming from a publication that may be under the influence of a government.”

The idea behind labelling the pages, posts and advertisements of state-controlled media outlets is to inform users as to who owns and runs these outlets. Facebook in October said it would roll out these labels to provide users with greater transparency.