Facebook's leaked 'Page History' feature might help you ID fake news

Because you want to know who's influencing you.

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews

When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.

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Sean Hollister

May 11, 2018 2:35 p.m. PT

facebook-f8-mark-zuckerberg-2018-0176 — James Martin/CNET

Who really runs that Facebook page? Soon, it'll be harder for them to hide. If a shady propaganda organization renames its Facebook page, or administers it from a different country, a leaked feature called "Page History" feature could give you the heads-up.

BuzzFeed got an early look at the feature due to what appears to be an accidental leak -- Facebook VP of Local Alex Himel tweeted that the company mistakenly pushed it live in Canada and Ireland before it was ready for prime time.

We announced earlier this year that we would make Pages more transparent, like show whether a Page has changed its name. https://t.co/g4luVciAeG. We mistakenly launched an early test to people in Canada and Ireland. 1/2
— Alex Himel (@ahimel) May 11, 2018

According to Himel, it'll be back within the next few weeks when the company's done working on it.

Speaking of Ireland: On May 25, the country is voting on whether to lift a ban on abortion, and both Facebook and Google are currently banning abortion-related political ads. They're trying to avoid letting internet groups potentially influence the outcome.

Facebook pointed us to Himel's tweet when we reached out for comment.

Disclosure: Sean's wife works for Facebook as an internal video producer.