Labor MP Anne Aly has warned that social media echo chambers pose a growing threat to democracy after Facebook highlighted a false rumour spread about her last year as a notable example of misinformation corrupting politics.

In a blog post published on Monday, Facebook's product manager for civic engagement, Samidh Chakrabarti, pointed to the circulation in April of the "false news" that Dr Aly – the first Muslim woman to sit in the Australian Parliament – had refused to lay a wreath at an Anzac Day ceremony.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled major changes to Facebook to combat 'Fake News' earlier this month. Credit:Paul Sakuma

"We recognise that the same tools that give people more voice can sometimes be used, by anyone, to spread hoaxes and misinformation," Mr Chakrabarti wrote.

"There is active debate about how much of our information diet is tainted by false news – and how much it influences people's behaviour. But even a handful of deliberately misleading stories can have dangerous consequences."