My first reaction to this was to object to using machine learning to validate news stories, since it's very hard for a machine to go out into the world and veri

My first reaction to this was to object to using machine learning to validate news stories, since it's very hard for a machine to go out into the world and verify that a story is based on reality. But the idea that fake news on Facebook is similar to the content farmed / bot generated / spammy stuff Google tries to eliminate, makes me think. The curious uptick of fake news over the last few months makes me wonder if Facebook either tried to, or was complicit in swaying public opinion before the election. I've long suspected that Google/Facebook technically have enough power to effectively decide an election by manipulating public opinion. But if they were going to do so, they'd attempt to do it in a way that doesn't make them look culpable. Someone should investigate.