Snapchat joins Facebook, Google in purging fake news from its network

Snapchat is the latest social network to take a stand against fake news, clickbait and “sensitive content”, according to a new report by the New York Times.

The social network, which updated its guidelines Monday, now forbids companies enrolled to its Discover programme to post questionable content to their channels. This includes clickbait, “overtly sexualised” content, and profanity.

The network’s Discover programme currently houses channels from the likes of National Geographic, People, Yahoo! and MTV.

Snapchat’s new guidelines also guard against Discover channels from “including reports or links to outside websites that could be considered fake news”.

Ultimately, the changes are in a bid to cultivate Snapchat as “an informative, factual and safe environment for everyone,” company spokeswoman Rachel Racusen told the NYT.

Snapchat is the latest social network to clamp down on fake news and misleading clickbait

Fake news is currently a massive concern for social media networks, and internet giants. Facebook and Google are considering new technologies to control and restrict fake news from proliferating on their networks.

Snapchat is an interesting case though. It’s the first largely-visual network taking a stand against clickbait and fake news.

The rise of Discover

Snapchat’s Discover was launched in January 2015, and was billed as a “new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams”.

“Social media companies tell us what to read based on what’s most recent or most popular. We see it differently. We count on editors and artists, not clicks and shares, to determine what’s important,” the company continued.

Clearly, Snap wants to respect journalistic integrity, and its new guidelines justify that wholly.