Facebook Inc. said Sunday that it will filter fake news stories in Germany in coming weeks, following reports that some politicians in Germany are worried about the influence alleged disinformation might have on the upcoming elections.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (above), who is running for a fourth term, has been the most prominent voice regarding the clampdown on the spread of fake news. “Something has changed,” Merkel said late last year, “as globalization has marched on, debate is taking place in a completely new media environment. Opinions aren’t formed the way they were 25 years ago.”

Merkel has said that populism and political extremist views are gaining traction, in some part because of the dissemination of fake news designed to provoke hostile reactions. The German Interior Ministry last month said it was putting together a “fake news defense center” in order to crackdown on disinformation, but also to curtail the use of news bots. The ministry said that it hoped Facebook’s removal policy would improve the situation.

According to a report in The Financial Times, Facebook has begun trying to quell fears in Germany relating to fake news. Users in Germany will have the option to flag stories they see on Facebook as “fake” and later Facebook may label the story as “disputed.”

Before the stories are labeled as disputed, they will be sent to German fact-checking newsroom, Correctiv, and if found to be lacking in facts will be labeled and also de-prioritized – meaning they won’t show up at the top of news feeds. Facebook confirmed the move.

The actions follow ongoing controversy in the United States, where Facebook has attempted to attenuate the damage of fake news by employing both algorithms and also human eyes in the form of organizations such as FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and Snopes.

Photo credit: European People’s Party via Flickr