Facebook announces new push against fake news after Obama comments

Mark Zuckerberg says site has been 'working on problem for a long time' and 'penalizes' misinformation on news feeds to reduce chances it will spread

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced new steps to counter fake news on the platform on Saturday, marking a departure from his skepticism that online misinformation is, as Barack Obama said this week, a threat to democratic institutions.

"We take misinformation seriously," Zuckerberg wrote in a post on Saturday. "We know people want accurate information. We've been working on this problem for a long time and we take this responsibility seriously."