Sites are trying to crack down on awful content, but fakes just keep rising to the top.
The news: On Wednesday YouTube briefly put an inaccurate conspiracy video, claiming that a survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting was an actor, in the top spot of its Trending section. Similar content appeared in Facebook’s Trending Topics section.
The problem: Trending sections are algorithmically generated. (Facebook’s was edited by people, until Gizmodo revealed it suppressed right-wing news.) Big Tech says it’s clamping down on misinformation, but the software seems to have no eye for veracity.
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