Facebook aiming to make Pages and Accounts more transparent with location info

Facebook is aiming to increase transparency with a new pilot feature. The company plans to show location info under some posts on Facebook and Instagram. "We want to make sure people use our services authentically and can understand who is behind the posts they're seeing," wrote Anita Joseph, Product Manager at Facebook, and Georgina Sheedy-Collier, Product Manager at Instagram, on Facebook’s official news page.

The new feature displays a gray text under the poster's name that reads Poster based in Brazil, for example. The idea is to give people additional information that can help them judge the authenticity of the information shared on Facebook and Instagram. The feature targets high-reach pages and accounts that are located outside the US but generate content for audiences in the States.


With the upcoming presidential elections later this year, it's clear that Facebook wants to avoid repeating any mishaps of the past. After the 2016 elections, the social network came under fire for allegedly becoming a tool for swaying the scales in Trump's favor. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before a joint Senate Committee and acknowledged the issue:

"[I]t's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well. That goes for fake news, foreign interference in elections, and hate speech, as well as developers and data privacy."

Showing location info under posts can prevent the same scenario from happening. Fake news can sound pretty convincing, but users will think twice when there's a text saying Based in Kazakhstan under the poster's name. "These changes are part of our broader efforts to protect elections and increase transparency on Facebook and Instagram so people can make more informed decisions", concludes the official announcement. Do you see any location information under the name of your favorite influencer?