Facebook is introducing new 'universal signals' to determine whether a post on users' news feeds might be authentic.

In a statement on its blog the social media company said the new measure will filter out messages that might be "misleading, sensational or spammy".

Facebook said most users will not see significant changes but some "might see a small increase in referral traffic or outbound clicks".

This is the latest move by Facebook to tackle criticism that it has not done enough to remove 'fake news' from feeds or enable its 1.8 billion active users to differentiate between factual and inaccurate news.