Today I would like to share some information on a new plugin that tries to spot fake and not-so-trustworthy news on the net. It’s called the B.S. ? Detector, it’s the work of self-agency and is in response to the claims that Mark Zuckerberg stated wherein Facebook is unable to substantively address the proliferation of fake news on its platform.
Thus enter the B.S. ? Detector? It’s a browser extension/plugin for Chrome and Mozilla-based browsers. The B.S. Detector searches all links on a given web page for references to unreliable sources, checking against a manually compiled list of domains. It then provides visual warnings about the presence of questionable links or the browsing of questionable websites.
According to self-agency the info is somewhat indiscriminately compiled from various sources around the web but who knows what is good or bad sometimes. They actively review this dataset, categorizing entries, and removing misidentified domains. They say it can not guarantee complete accuracy of their data at the moment (weird,yeah right) and you can view the complete list here. What makes them know any better and could be bypass too or whatever.
Domain classifications include:
- Fake News: Sources that fabricate stories out of whole cloth with the intent of pranking the public.
- Satire: Sources that provide humorous commentary on current events in the form of fake news.
- Extreme Bias: Sources that traffic in political propaganda and gross distortions of fact.
- Conspiracy Theory: Sources that are well-known promoters of kooky conspiracy theories.
- Rumor Mill: Sources that traffic in rumors, innuendo, and unverified claims.
- State News: Sources in repressive states operating under government sanction.
- Junk Science: Sources that promote scientifically dubious claims.
- Hate Group: Sources that actively promote racism, misogyny, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination.
If there are any sites you recommend adding or removing, or if you object to your site being listed, you can file a report here.
This is a good step in the right direction since, according to techcrunch.com, A Stanford study found that the majority of middle school students can’t tell the difference between real news and fake news.
This is a major problem that now, and this plugin tries to help identify the truth in the news we read but who’s to say this list is any good.
You can check this plugin by going here or here
Thanks for reading and keep doing it for the love of the game.