The information about the effectiveness of Facebook’s fact-checking initiative, which saw it partnering with third-party fact-checkers, comes from an email sent to the company’s partners and obtained by BuzzFeed. According to the company, the system demotes stories after a fact-checker deems it false, which has lead to a reduction of impressions on Facebook by 80 percent.

Previously the effectiveness of the company’s initiative was called into question, with evidence suggesting that it showed little signs of success or even had a contrary effect.

Presuming that Facebook’s figures are accurate, it would suggest that involving human editors in the otherwise automated process is a significant factor in verifying false content, as one commentator said.