Combat AI Scammers Infesting Facebook Feeds Now

This is an opinion column.

Ever tried to intentionally wreck your Facebook timeline? Just spend a couple of weeks diving into the wild, fabricated stories masquerading as news, like those discussed in the story we published Thursday. We're talking about the absolute peak of fake news.

It's laughably absurd, yet it flourishes in this strange era where our collective sense of truth has shattered and the usual safeguards are gone.

The Rising Tide of AI Fake News on Facebook

So, what's our move? Facebook's parent company, Meta, didn't bother to reply to our repeated requests for comments, even when we showed them screenshots of the AI-generated garbage flooding their platform. Scammers, often based overseas, are pretending to be American sports enthusiasts. They run these pages to boost engagement and lure users to potentially harmful websites.

They're gaming timelines that are increasingly filled with suggested posts rather than updates from actual friends and family. Expecting a photo of your grandson or his new puppy? Surprise! Here’s a bogus image of Nick Saban supposedly crying in a hospital bed instead. This billion-dollar corporation evidently doesn't mind if its platform turns into a weed patch where a garden once thrived.

Meta's Silence and the Scammers' Playbook

Perhaps it falls to us, the users of this social network, to take action.

Your Toolkit Fighting Back Against Facebook Scams

Report these pages for spreading misinformation. Look for the three dots in the top right corner of these pages; a menu will appear allowing you to “report group.” Within that menu, you'll find options like “false information” or “fraud or scam,” both of which are applicable here.

Snooze any of these posts that pop up in your timeline. This cuts off the fuel supply to the algorithm that tells Facebook these pages deserve more attention. Again, within your timeline, each post has three dots in the top right. Clicking these gives you a menu where you can select “not interested.” Some options let you hide the post (and similar ones), report it, or block the page entirely.

While Facebook's exact algorithm isn't public knowledge, taking these actions certainly won't help these scam pages gain visibility.

Definitely do not interact with them. Don’t even hit the thumbs up or the angry face emoji. Avoid calling them out as fake in the comments, because any engagement, even negative, gives them algorithmic “juice.” It’s like pulling a weed only to have more sprout in its place.

Spreading Awareness The Importance of Media Literacy

Then comes the inevitable moment when you see an uncle or a former teacher share one of these fabricated posts. We can be understanding that they were tricked, while also gently informing them that they're contributing to the problem. We can't assume everyone has strong news or social media literacy, so it's up to us to educate our friends and family on how to spot AI-generated photos and fake news.

To be crystal clear, we're talking about the textbook definition of fake news. This doesn’t mean headlines or opinions you simply disagree with. It’s a matter of basic common sense. Does a story seem far-fetched? Google it. Check if any credible news outlets are reporting on it. If not, that page isn’t worth your time or your trust.

The Bigger Picture Eroding Trust and Facebooks Future

Ultimately, this is what it boils down to. These Facebook posts about sports might not be the direct cause of democracy's collapse, but they are part of a larger issue. They erode our trust in what we read online.

And if scammers can fool so many people with easily identifiable fake photos about a football coach, imagine the damage they could inflict concerning serious topics like public health or safety.

Meta has dismissed its third-party fact-checkers who previously helped monitor and debunk hoaxes and scams on the platform. CEO Mark Zuckerberg frames this as a response to what he labels censorship, stemming from the verification of sometimes uncomfortable truths. That’s his choice, of course, if that’s how he wants to manage his company. But these decisions have consequences.

Facebook was never a perfect utopia, but it's going to lose users if it becomes overrun with the kind of fake AI graffiti that’s currently dominating its algorithm. It's a significant decline from where this whole social media experiment started.

As a college student when Facebook first emerged from Harvard dorms, this now-middle-aged columnist enjoyed sharing party pictures and connecting names with faces from classes or the local bar. It’s become progressively less cool each year since. Parents joined. It shifted from being about parties to being about politics. Look at us now. Our college-aged selves would be mortified.

No more photos of keg stands or costume parties. Instead, we’re discussing fake images of football coaches and players polluting what was once our digital playground. Anyone from my generation also remembers when AOL was the internet, but that seemingly too-big-to-fail giant is long gone from mainstream culture. Fittingly, it often seems those who still cling to AOL email addresses are among those feeding the AI beast that’s consuming Facebook’s soul.

Maybe it’s time to just log off. If Facebook doesn’t care about its own platform, why should we? We had some good times, but this isn't a 'til-death-do-us-part situation. The free market has a voice. Perhaps it’s time we used ours somewhere else.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.