Facebook helping Georgia counter misinformation by launching fact-checking programme
Facebook has over 70 partners fact-checking content in over 50 languages globally, and the company is investing in ways to scale these efforts further. Photo: On.ge.
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Facebook is launching its third-party fact-checking programme in Georgia with local organisations FactCheck Georgia and Myth Detector.
The programme is in line with Facebook’s three-part framework to improve the quality and authenticity of stories in the news feed, wherein Facebook removes accounts and content that violate its community standards or ad policies, reduces the distribution of false news and inauthentic content like clickbait, and informs people by giving them more context on the posts they see.
We are happy to launch our third-party fact-checking program in Georgia with FactCheck Georgia and Myth Detector. Fighting false news is a responsibility we take seriously, that is why we are constantly working on ways to help stop the spread of misinformation on our platform", said Strategic Partner Development Manager at Facebook Sophie Eyears.
Facebook's programme includes several key steps:
- Identifying false news
- Reviewing content
- Clearly labeling misinformation, and informing users about it
- Ensuring that fewer people see misinformation
- Taking action against repeat offenders
Founder of FactCheck Georgia Paata Gaprindashvili said that since its establishment in 2013, FactCheck Georgia has been contributing to increasing accountability, exposing misinformation and promoting the truth in Georgia’s information space.
The partnership with Facebook gives us an excellent opportunity to make our work much more effective and most importantly, to reach out thousands of Georgian Facebook users, who are targeted with misinformation. The partnership comes a few weeks before the parliamentary elections in Georgia that would help us to secure social media from viral misinformation and malign actors willing to disrupt the democratic fundamentals of elections”, Gaprindashvili said.
According to Eyears, Facebook has over 70 partners fact-checking content in over 50 languages globally, and the company is investing in ways to scale these efforts further.
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