Social networks started with the zeitgeist that encouraged people to continue posting on their platforms that was within their set rules. However in the spirit of this age of sharing, there has been the issue of some individuals or entities that use the platforms to spread fake news which can be a cancer to these networks.
Snapchat does not want to be an example of a network that has been affected by fake news because it can seriously dent its integrity. That is why they were reported by the New York Times to have formulated new guidelines for their news platform, Discover.
“The changes aim to empower editorial partners to do their part to keep Snapchat an informative, factual and safe environment for everyone,” a spokesperson from the company was quoted by the publication.
The new rules included such things like:
- Publishers shouldn’t use overly sexualized or violent images and the content intended to shock disgust is not allowed. However material that has news value is exempted.
- There is a dedicated section which has warnings publishers should run when graphic images are deemed newsworthy and when to censor that content by age. Apparently Snapchat will give publishers a tool next month to allow them to age-gate such content.
- Guidelines that prevent publishers from including links or reports that could be considered fake news and that all content must be fact checked and accurate.
This move by Snapchat benefits both Snap the company and the users. Snap has been reported trying to IPO for a while now and also wants to appeal better to advertisers so that integrity aspect is quite important. Also, the fake news aspect has become a recent problem which the likes of Facebook have been trying to rectify and it is laudable they have decided to tackle this forthrightly to prevent its spread.
