Facebook today is introducing another feature aimed at making it easier to see who’s behind the posts published across Facebook and Instagram. The company says it will now display the location of the Facebook Page or Instagram account with a large audience on every post it shares, so end users have a better understanding of how reliable or authentic the accounts may be. While the feature is described as one designed for overall increased transparency, it will initially launch only in the U.S.
With the update, posts from “high-reach” Facebook and Instagram accounts will come with labels alerting followers of the account owner’s location. The “about” section” will also display messages about where the account owner is based.
“This account and many of its followers are based in different locations,” Instagram’s in-app message says. A similar note will appear on Facebook posts.
The update could help fight the kind of disinformation tactics used by Russia in the 2016 election, when trolls posed as US-based activists on Facebook and Instagram. The Russian accounts often amassed significant followings and even organized events, with most followers never realizing the “activists” weren’t even in the United States.
“These changes are part of our broader efforts to protect elections and increase transparency on Facebook and Instagram so people can make more informed decisions about the posts they read, trust and share,” the company wrote in a statement.
The feature is currently a test “with Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts that are based outside the US but reach large audiences based primarily in the US,” though it could expand to cover more locations in the future, Facebook says.
Facebook says it’s piloting the new location transparency feature in the U.S. now and is exploring ways to bring this transparency to more places on Facebook Pages and Instagram Profiles. The feature is live now on Facebook and rolling out currently on Instagram.
