Flock will flag fake news shared through the messaging app

Team messaging and collaboration platform Flock has launched Fake News Detector (FND), a feature that will flag false and misleading information from being shared through the messaging app. Flock hopes that the feature will protect organizations against the fake news epidemic from being introduced in messaging, collaboration environments, and decision-making processes. The company claims it to be the world-first integration that identifies and flags content from sources deemed misleading, unverified or false. When users unknowingly share suspect URLs into Flock chat boxes, FND cross-references the link within a database of more than 600 verified fake news sources. After identifying the content from the unreliable news source, it immediately flags it and warns users that it is fake news. Users have the option to remove the content before it becomes widespread.

“Optimal decisions are based on reliable information; however, employees rarely have the time to validate each piece of information they receive or consider,” said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO, Flock.

“Unfortunately, misinformation breeds misinformation, and through the simple means of sharing in today’s digital ecosystem, one unreliable piece of content can easily spread like wildfire throughout an entire organization and beyond. With the Flock Fake News Detector, we’ve taken a socially responsible and proactive step to counter this global epidemic and support organizational productivity, efficiency and decision-making,” he added.