"Facebook wants to make sure its site spreads truthful information."

Facebook is fighting fake news in its "war room."

The company has created a special new team. It is fighting to keep people from making fake accounts. It is also fighting to remove false stories from Facebook.

Big elections are coming up in Brazil and the United States.

On October 28, Brazilians will vote for a new president. The U.S. midterm elections take place on November 6. This election is very important. Many seats in Congress are being voted on. These include all 435 seats in the House of Representatives. It also includes 35 seats in the Senate. These are the two chambers that make up Congress.

Facebook wants to make sure its site spreads truthful information.

False Stories Were Easily Spread
Two years ago, Facebook was not very worried about fake news.

In 2016, Donald Trump was elected president. This was a surprise. Some say the outcome was influenced by fictional news stories. Many of these stories were spread on Facebook.

Back then, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg brushed off these criticisms. He called the idea "pretty crazy."

Soon, the U.S. government was examining Facebook's influence. More people and groups criticized Facebook. Then the company's attitude changed.

Fake Accounts Were A Big Problem
In 2017, the website admitted it showed thousands of advertisements. These were bought by the Russian government. The ads were spreading false information on purpose.

Zuckerberg made it his goal to fix Facebook in 2018.

The fake news-fighting team is part of his plan. It uses computers to identify suspicious posts and user behavior.

The company hired about 20,000 people to help.

Facebook says it has gotten rid of more than 1 billion fake accounts over the past year. The company also says it has removed hundreds of pages. Many were set up by foreign governments and others looking to cause harm.

Facebook Does Not Want To Look Bad To The Public
Carusone is not sure Facebook's new fight against fake news and information is working. He thinks it is more about not looking bad to the public.

Facebook says its new fight is working. However, it is still trying to do better. It has not been able to stop all bad behavior.

TV and newspaper reporters were not allowed to examine Facebook employees' computers. They also were not allowed to mention the equipment inside the war room. Facebook said this was private company information. It said they were doing important work.