Facebook has announced a pilot third-party fact-checking program in India’s Karnataka state, to fight the spread of fake news. Similar programs are already in effect in the Philippines, France, Indonesia, and Italy.
With 201 million active users in India – almost 10% of all Facebook users in 2017 – the country is the social network’s second-biggest market after the United States. And with the Indian general election coming up in 2019, Facebook wants to make sure it can get its false news problem under control as soon as possible. Earlier this year, the company started launching third-party fact-checking programs in several countries across the globe. Now, it’s bringing a similar pilot program to India – and specifically to the state of Karnataka first.
The program, in partnership with independent journalism initiative BOOM – certified by the International Fact-Checking Network – will review flagged English-language stories, and will rate them in terms of their accuracy. There will be six ratings being used – among them “false,” “mixture,” “true,” and “not rated.” As soon as a BOOM fact-checker rates a story as “false,” Facebook will rank it lower in News Feed and then notify Page admins and people who try to share it. Also, it will notify those who have shared a news story which has turned out to be false through BOOM’s fact-checking.
Reduced distribution and reduced monetisation and advertising abilities won’t only be at a Page level – but a domain level as well. Facebook has said that distribution of false news stories could lead to distribution reduction of up to 80%. Also, if an article is written by BOOM explaining why a news article is deemed to be false, the explanation will appear in Related Articles below the story.
Commenting on the test, in a blog post, Facebook explained: “We are beginning small and know it is important to learn from this test and listen to our community as we continue to update ways for people to understand what might be false news in their News Feed.”
You might also like
More from Facebook
Facebook To Begin Testing Topic Exclusion Controls For Advertisers
Facebook is to begin testing a new brand safety options, including new Facebook Ads topic exclusion controls for a small …
Facebook Oversight Board Publishes Decisions On First Cases
Back in December, Facebook's independent Oversight Board took on its first cases. Its decisions on these cases are now published.
Facebook Continues To Lose Users In The US And Canada
Facebook’s daily active users decline for a second quarter in the United States and Canada, caused by user fatigue and …
Facebook Launches Facebook News Portal In The UK
Facebook is starting to roll out Facebook News in the UK, a destination in its app featuring curated news from …
Facebook Revamps Access Your Information On iOS And Android
Facebook has announced a revamped version of its Access Your Information tool, making it easier for users to find and …
Facebook Bans Ads Promoting Weapon Accessories Ahead Of Inauguration Day
Facebook has announced a ban, on its platforms, of ads promoting weapon accessories and protective equipment - at least through …
Facebook Bans Donald Trump Indefinitely From Its Platforms
Following the recent events in Washington DC, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced an indefinite ban on Donald Trump from …
New Facebook Pages Come Without A Like Button
Facebook is rolling out a new design for Facebook Pages. It comes with new features, but without a Like button.
New Year’s Eve 2020 Sets New Records For Use Of Facebook Apps
Facebook was expecting a traffic spike on its apps over New Year's Eve, but this year broke all previous records …