(VOVworld) –Facebook has announced its new measures to fight fake news in Germany. Last Wednesday Facebook launched its “Journalism project” to make sure that “a healthy news ecosystem and journalism can thrive.”

(Photo: AP)

In Berlin, Facebook plans to offer a simpler reporting process for users to mark  suspected fake news, display warnings next to statements identified as false by independent organizations, and cut off advertising revenue to fake news sites.

Stories flagged with a fake news warning will not be eligible to be converted into an ad seen by other users or "promoted" into other users' feeds for a fee.

Facebook said that independent and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument for journalism. Nonprofit journalism organization Correctiv will be the first fact-checking partner in Germany. Facebook added it will find more fact-checking organizations.

The fight against fake news is important to Germany, the largest economy and most populous country in Europe. German politicians warned that populist parties and other countries used fake news to interfere with the parliamentary election in September. Late last year, German Minister of Justice Heiko Maas said Germany might fine Facebook up to half a million euros for every fake news post.

Facebook said the Journalism Project is designed to support journalism and news literacy, and to serve as a hub for journalists and publishers to learn and share.

The firm said it is working with the News Literacy Project to promote news literacy both on and off its platform to help users get the information they need to make decisions about which sources to trust.