Facebook is getting rid of its fake news red flags because they were making fabricated media reports appear more believable to its users.

The social network began showing "disputed" warnings next to articles in December to alert people that third party fact-checking websites deemed them misleading.

It will now show a selection of “related articles” next to offending stories instead. These will give more context and could help people learn the facts surrounding a situation through reputable media publications.

The U-turn was prompted by research suggesting users would actually believe fake news even if it was flagged as incorrect or a misleading.

"Academic research on correcting misinformation has shown that putting a strong image, like a red flag, next to an article may actually entrench deeply held beliefs – the opposite effect to what we intended," Facebook product manager Tessa Lyons wrote in a blog-post.

It conducted research which suggested that false news stories with "related articles" next to it were shared fewer times than those highlighted with a red flag.