Facebook offers plan to tackle fake news ahead of US midterms

With 2018 elections on horizon Facebook is trying to get ahead of misinformation, but won't say whether it supports ad regulation

Facebook has announced new steps it claims will increase election security and combat fake news, but has declined to say whether the company supports federal legislation to regulate political ads.

Company executives told reporters on Thursday that the company was expanding its fact-checking efforts, improving ad transparency, doubling its security team and working to prevent "misleading or divisive" memes from going viral in advance of the US midterm elections in November.