Read the full article at Engadget.

After getting dragged around the time of the general election, Facebook has spent much of this year taking steps to combat the spread of misinformation on its site. Transparency has been a staple of its mission, and so it's kept the public up to date with all the features and experimentsit's juggling. One of these is the disputed flags stamped on articles identified as false -- first spotted back in March. But, it seems the feature isn't working as Facebook would've liked, which means it has to go. In a new post, the company claims it is ditching disputed flags in favor of an improved version of its related articles feature, which it originally began testing in April.

Seeing as fake news has become a rallying cry in itself, some people just don't buy the company's label (even if it comes by way of two third-party fact checkers). As evidence, Facebook points to a 2012 academic study (co-authored by researchers from the University of West Australia and University of Michigan) that suggests a strong image -- like a red flag -- next to an article may entrench held beliefs, instead of debunking them. Why it didn't consult the study in the first place is a mystery.