(Jon Elswick/AP)Facebook is creating an online tool to allow users to determine if they might have been exposed to Russian disinformation during the 2016 presidential election and its fractious aftermath, the company announced Wednesday. The new tool will be an online portal, available through Facebook's Help Center. "It is important that people understand how foreign actors tried to sow division and mistrust using Facebook before and after the 2016 US election," Facebook said in its announcement Wednesday. Jack Reed (R.I.) and Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), as well as Rep. Teri Sewell (Ala.) — had pushed Facebook to find a way alert its users about their exposure to Russian disinformation. Blumenthal sent a letter calling on Facebook to find a way to alert its users, setting Wednesday as a deadline for the company to take action.

Source: Washington Post November 22, 2017 17:01 UTC