Facebook used programs codenamed Stormchaser and Night's Watch to hunt down hoaxes and misinformation about ITSELF, including memes claiming Mark Zuckerberg is an alien
new report reveals that Facebook is particularly concerned with one victim of misinformation on its platform: itself.
As detailed by Bloomberg, several staffers at the company say Facebook used a tandem of tools to track down and kill hoaxes on Facebook and its encrypted messaging app WhatsApp that were thought to be spreading misinformation about the company.
According to the anonymous sources interviewed in the report, the tools, called Stormchaser and Night's Watch -- named after a fictional group in HBO's fantasy series Game of Thrones -- were used to monitor an array of hoaxes in real-time.
Facebook used a tandem of tools to help track and debunk misinformation about the company that occurred on its platform.
That misinformation included popular 'copy-and-paste' posts that alleged Facebook would start charging users and other unfounded campaigns accusing the company of tapping users' microphones to spy on them.
The company also used the tools to track trends like the #deleteFBmovement and even monitor inane memes such as those positing CEO Mark Zuckerberg was actually an alien, according to sources in the report.
Depending on the hoax in question, Facebook would sometimes take steps to debunk information by serving notices to customers who had shared or engaged with the posts.
Tools to monitor and track rumors and misinformation about the company coincide with a broader internal struggle to counter other misinformation being spread via the platform.
In 2016 Facebook's played a central role in spreading Russia-generated misinformation meant to influence the the U.S. Presidential election. *[My note: this was only a very small amount of advertisements and only about 100k used as compared to tens on millions of ads on tv so hardly a dent]*
As a result of their role in the misinformation campaign, in addition to the improper access of 50 million users' personal data by political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, sources in Bloomberg say the company internally amped up its efforts to restore Facebook's image.
Zuckerberg testified before congress last year regarding the company's role in the both of the scandals that lead up to and continued after the 2016 election.
Facebook's public image has taken a number of hits lately due to scandals surrounding privacy and its role in spreading misinformation. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is shown
According to Bloomberg, the Night's Watch tool in particular was used to assess how news -- real news, not misinformation -- regarding Facebook spread on the platform and WhatsApp.
A spokesperson for Facebook responded to Bloomberg's report stating that the tools in question weren't used to combat fake news, but were designed to intervene in cases of 'product confusion.'
The spokesperson added that Stormchaser was discontinued in mid-2018 but did not elaborate on why.
A request for comment by DailyMail.com has not been responded to before time of publication.
Facebook still continues to track its own perception on the platform through the use of public polling to track both the company's and Zuckerberg's favorability with the company's user base.
That polling serves as the basis for the company communications and marketing teams who have worked to position Facebook as a privacy-focused platform in recent months.
Earlier this year, Zuckerberg stood before a crowd at a developer's conference to announce that 'the future is private' and outline a host of new privacy and safety-centric features and goals.
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