Miniature Facebook banners are seen on snacks prepared for the visit by Facebook's Chief Operating Officer in Paris, France, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) - Facebook said on Wednesday it would introduce tougher rules on who can make money from advertising on its network, responding to criticism that it makes it too easy for providers of fake news and sensational headlines to cash in.

With immediate effect, the world’s largest social network will launch new standards to provide clearer guidance on which publishers are eligible to earn money on Facebook and with what content, Senior Vice President for Global Marketing Solutions Carolyn Everson said in a blog post.

These standards would apply to ad placements where context could matter, Everson wrote in the post, timed to coincide with an appearance on Wednesday by Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg at dmexco, a major digital marketing gathering in Cologne, Germany.

Germany is one of Facebook’s toughest critics on hate speech and privacy. Its parliament passed a law in June to introduce fines of up to 50 million euros ($60 million) for social media networks if they fail to remove hateful postings promptly.

Facebook, together with Alphabet’s Google, accounts for around two fifths of internet advertising, which is forecast by consultancy Zenith to grow by 13 percent to $205 billion this year – overtaking television as the biggest channel for companies to pitch their wares to consumers.

Facebook has faced criticism from marketers that digital ads distributed to its more than 2 billion monthly active users were not reaching their intended audience, were not being adequately tracked, and in some cases were being placed with content detrimental to the brands being promoted.

More at Reuters