Facebook to allow people to flag items as "fake news"

Today's the day: Facebook will begin to identify what it calls "fake news," with the possibility of downgrading it in the news feed and actually labeling it as fake news.

Before I say anything else: yes, I know Facebook is a private company, and I know they can have whatever policy they want.

There. That deals with the 12 pedantic libertarians who will write to tell me this, as if I didn't know. Or who think, for reasons I cannot begin to fathom, that libertarians aren't allowed to criticize particular actions taken by private businesses.

Now, back to the grownups' discussion.

We can all see where this is bound to lead. The progressives with whom Facebook is in league wouldn't know real news, accurate history, or sound economics if these things punched them in the face.

So legitimate if controversial stories will get penalized, stigmatized, and buried.

Meanwhile, our keyboard crusaders for justice, who are actually just useful idiots for the regime and the empire, will die a thousand deaths before labeling New York Times stories as "fake," even though Judith Miller lied her way through the run-up to the Iraq war.

We all know the fake stories the media has run with just in the past 15 years. THAT fake news certainly affected elections. But not a word.

Why? Because the progressive mantra went from "Question Authority" to "Question Powerless Authority. Stand With the Strong."

Or: "Question Authority, except the Fed chairman, or the Washington Post, or the New York Times, or the Democratic Party, or the bipartisan foreign-policy consensus, or the regulatory establishment, or Paul Krugman, or the SEC, or the medical establishment, or the central bank, or the Officially Approved Version of American History you were taught in fourth grade." Other than that, knock yourself out!

On the other hand, perhaps the rest of us could throw a monkey wrench into the works by calling Salon stories "fake news."

Or you could join Gab -- the no-censorship social media platform -- as I have.

I'm sticking around on the major platforms, though -- if my enemies are going to let me promote myself using their resources, I'd be a fool not to take them up on that.

Facebook claims to be fighting against "fake news," but I truly do fight against fake history.

Join me in that noble work. After December 30 my Liberty Classroom master membership jumps back up to $497. Grab now while the grabbing's good:

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Tom Woods