Facebook is opening up a new way of defining the title "expert" within user groups on this social network.
Representatives of this social network say that the new feature is designed to help real experts "stand out" in discussions about their field of expertise.
Group administrators will have the power to grant the title to almost any member they wish.
But, this could mean that groups that promote conspiracy theories or extreme views are also able to assign the term "expert" to certain users, members of a group.
Facebook groups have been used by movements such as QAnon, anti-vaccination groups and controversial political factions to spread misinformation.
This year, Facebook changed its policies to remove groups that discourage COVID-19 vaccinations, and also stopped recommending political groups to new members.
However, a Facebook spokesperson said the feature was a "limited trial" and only available to select groups to start with.
They also said that groups were subject to Facebook's community standards - and that people who had received more than three "strikes" for violating those standards in the last 90 days would not be eligible to be named "experts".
Facebook has said that the new designation (expert) is a way to promote truly knowledgeable voices within groups.
"Administrators now have the ability to select specific members in their communities who stand out, empowering them to play a more meaningful role," Facebook executive Maria Smith wrote in a blog post.
"Administrators can collaborate with group experts to host Q&As (questions and answers) to share perspectives on a topic and answer questions," she added.
The selected individuals will have a choice of whether to accept or decline the expert's invitation. If they accept, they will receive a distinctive role alongside their name.
As part of the rollout, Facebook also said it is experimenting with ways to allow group admins to find real experts on a topic to invite to their groups.
The company said that among the active groups currently operating on Facebook, there are about 70 million administrators and moderators.
As part of the rollout, Facebook also said it is experimenting with ways to allow group admins to find real experts on a topic to invite to their groups.
Despite the clampdown on vaccine denial and the QAnon conspiracy, Facebook still remains a significant driver for this type of content, hiding behind a respectable front of groups promoting wellness, parenting, politics, and local issues.
So while Facebook's plan to allow group admins to appoint experts initially seems appealing as a means of bringing trusted content to users, it raises the question of whether these experts will be completely trustworthy.
A page with an anti-vaccine agenda can easily appoint anti-vaccine “experts” and use their credible status to post misleading content.
Facebook’s announcement currently gives no indication of a vetting process for appointing experts. This leaves individual group members to assess their expertise and hope they are invited by admins. This is a process that can obviously be circumvented by users and admins looking to game the system.
(Analysis published by BBC)