Meta is trying to reduce spam on Facebook

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Meta is stepping up its efforts to reduce spammy and misleading content on Facebook. 

On Thursday, Meta announced that it’s targeting posts and accounts that try to trick Facebook’s system to gain more views, followers, or money.

A big part of this crackdown focuses on posts that use sneaky tactics, like writing long, irrelevant messages or stuffing posts with lots of hashtags to get more attention. 

For example, Meta showed a post with a picture of a dog, but the caption was about “Top 10 Airplane Facts,” which had nothing to do with the image. 

Another example was a post praising cars, filled with hashtags like “#VIRALCONTENT” and “#LIKEFORLIKE” just to boost engagement.

When Meta finds accounts posting this kind of spam, it will limit their content so only their current followers can see it. Plus, they will no longer be able to earn money from their posts.

Meta is also cracking down on users who create hundreds of fake accounts to post the same spam over and over again. 

These users will also lose the ability to make money from their posts, and their content will likely reach fewer people.

Besides posts, Meta is addressing fake or misleading comments. It’s working to reduce the visibility of comments that seem to be part of organized spam or fake interaction. 

There’s also a new feature being tested that allows users to report comments they think aren’t helpful. 

On top of that, page owners now have a tool that helps them automatically hide comments from people pretending to be someone else.

Meta says this move is meant to help make Facebook a place where real voices and opinions can be heard, without being drowned out by spam or misleading posts. 

These updates follow Facebook’s recent launch of a Friends-only feed that avoids algorithm-driven content suggestions altogether.

Do you think Meta’s efforts will be enough to reduce spam on Facebook? Can Meta outrun the fake news and AI slop? Tell us your thoughts below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.