Facebook uses scoring system to rate user reliability

Facebook keeps a score of user trustworthiness behind the scenes. The score is not visible to users themselves. Facebook says it wants to use the system to combat fake news and disinformation.

The reliability of users is rated by Facebook with a score between zero and 1. That is what Tessa Lyons announced in an interview with The Washington Post. Lyons is responsible for fighting disinformation and fake news at Facebook. The rating system has been developed over the past year.

For example, Facebook uses the system to assess the value of a user’s complaint. Users can flag posts as fake news, but Lyons says many people do if they disagree with the information. Flagged posts are examined by fact-checkers and if it turns out to be fake news, the person who flagged the post gets a higher confidence score. People who incorrectly report messages as fake news get a lower score.

According to Lyons, the trust score is not an absolute indicator of the credibility of Facebook users. However, she did not say in the interview which other methods Facebook uses to check the reliability and credibility of users. Also, according to The Washington Post, it is not clear whether all users have a reliability score and exactly how the scores are used.