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Facebook wants to give you a dedicated news section

The social network wants to deliver a better news experience.

Carrie Mihalcik Former Managing Editor / News
Carrie was a managing editor at CNET focused on breaking and trending news. She'd been reporting and editing for more than a decade, including at the National Journal and Current TV.
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Carrie Mihalcik
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Facebook has faced criticism over fake news on its platform.

Angela Lang/CNET

Facebook  plans to launch a feature in the US later this year to offer people a better news experience. A dedicated news tab will appear prominently alongside core features like the news feed, Messenger and Watch, according to CNBC.

Facebook confirmed its plans to CNBC after The Wall Street Journal on Thursday reported that the social network had approached news outlets, including ABC News, Dow Jones, The Washington Post and Bloomberg, and offered to pay as much as $3 million to license content for its news tab.

Facebook declined to comment on the Journal report. Campbell Brown, Facebook's head of news partnerships, said in a tweet Friday that "working with news industry to get Facebook's News Tab right is our goal and focus this year."

Facebook, along with Twitter and other social networks, have been stepping up their efforts to combat the spread of fake news on their platforms after facing criticism for not doing enough. In April, Facebook outlined new steps to stop misinformation, scams and other "problematic" content from going viral on the platform, with some of the changes applying to private Facebook groups. 

However, fake news continues to thrive. A study earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found 60% of US adults who prefer getting news through social media said they had shared false information. And the vast majority of Americans say they sometimes or often encounter fake news, according to Pew.

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Originally published Aug. 9, 6:57 a.m. PT.
Update, 10:44 a.m.: Adds response from Facebook.