Trudeau to Facebook: Fix your fake news problem or face stricter regulations
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has warned social networking giant Facebook it needs to fix its “fake news” problems or face stronger regulation from Ottawa.Trudeau told Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg in November he was concerned the company wasn’t doing enough to stop the spread of misleading information on their platform, a source with direct knowledge of the conversation told the Star. Facebook has been under intense international scrutiny for allowing so-called “fake news” — false and often outlandish information presented as legitimate journalism — to propagate on its network. Read more:Twitter turns first quarterly profit, but broader problems of abuse, fake accounts, misinformation remainResearchers raise concerns as Twitter, Facebook say they would welcome role in Canadian election debatesCan a country outlaw fake news? France is about to find outSometimes the “articles” are simply hoaxes, designed to profit from Facebook users’ clicks. But as seen during the 2016 U.S. presidential election, the tactic can also mislead or manipulate citizens to further political ends – whether by partisan actors domestically, or hostile nations internationally. Facebook has also faced criticism about a lack of transparency around who is buying ads on their platform. As Canadian political parties prepare for the 2019 federal election, the source said Trudeau suggested Ottawa could intervene if Facebook doesn’t adequately address the issues. The source described the conversation as “constructive.” Trudeau’s comments came during a meeting with Sandberg at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Vietnam last November. According to the source, Trudeau was particularly concerned about Facebook identifying the origin of partisan “news” posts or advertisements.Neither the Prime Minister’s Office nor Facebook would discuss the specifics o ...