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.

 

According to the CNET.com website, Facebook confirmed its plans to CNBC after The Wall Street Journal 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. 

 

Campbell Brown, Facebook's head of news partnerships, said in a tweet 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, reported the German news agency.

 

A study earlier this year by the Pew Research Center found 60 percent 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.