Facebook Inc is expanding its <a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/germany-to-restrict-facebooks-data-gathering-activities-195917">fact-checking network</a> in India to curb the spread of misinformation as the world's largest democracy prepares for a general election that must be held by May, the US-based social media giant said on Monday.

"We are committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook, especially ahead of the 2019 General Election campaign season," Manish Khanduri, Facebook India's news partnership head, said in the statement.

The coming election is expected to be a close fought battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress Party and its regional allies.

Last week, Facebook said it was introducing stricter rules for political advertisements in India.

The latest move to strengthen the fact-checking programme is aimed at verifying the accuracy of stories and preventing the spread of hoaxes.

Five new partners have been added to Facebook's fact-checker network, taking the total number to seven, the statement said.

And the programme has been broadened to cover services in more Indian languages so that it will now cover English and five local languages, the statement added.

India is Facebook's largest market by users, and its WhatsApp messaging service has more than 200 million users in the country thanks to the advent of cheap mobile data and increasing penetration of smartphones.

Aside from concerns over misuse of social media for political purposes, there has also been criticism over the spread of false, incendiary messages that have fanned communal tensions and sparked mob violence.

Last year, after a series of lynchings, were incited by messages sent on its service, WhatsApp reduced the number of people or groups that a message could be forwarded to at one time, cutting it to five from 20 previously. WhatsApp has since moved to make that its norm worldwide.

Facebook's main rival in India, Alphabet Inc's Google, has also conducted scores of workshops across the country to train journalists to verify the news.

Facebook Inc is expanding its fact-checking network in India to curb the spread of misinformation as the world's largest democracy prepares for a general election that must be held by May, the US-based social media giant said on Monday.

Facebook Inc is expanding its fact-checking network in India to curb the spread of misinformation as the world's largest democracy prepares for a general election that must be held by May, the US-based social media giant said on Monday. "We are committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook, especially ahead of the 2019 General Election campaign season," Manish Khanduri, Facebook India's news partnership head, said in the statement. The coming election is expected to be a close fought battle between Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress Party and its regional allies. Last week, Facebook said it was introducing stricter rules for political advertisements in India. The latest move to strengthen the fact-checking programme is aimed at verifying the accuracy of stories and preventing the spread of hoaxes. Five new partners have been added to Facebook's fact-checker network, taking the total number to seven, the statement said. And the programme has been broadened to cover services in more Indian languages so that it will now cover English and five local languages, the statement added. India is Facebook's largest market by users, and its WhatsApp messaging service has more than 200 million users in the country thanks to the advent of cheap mobile data and increasing penetration of smartphones. Aside from concerns over misuse of social media for political purposes, there has also been criticism over the spread of false, incendiary messages that have fanned communal tensions and sparked mob violence. Last year, after a series of lynchings, were incited by messages sent on its service, WhatsApp reduced the number of people or groups that a message could be forwarded to at one time, cutting it to five from 20 previously. WhatsApp has since moved to make that its norm worldwide. Facebook's main rival in India, Alphabet Inc's Google, has also conducted scores of workshops across the country to train journalists to verify the news.

With Lok Sabha elections coming, Facebook says it is expanding its fact-checking network

Social networking giant Facebook is introducing a third-party fact-checking programme in India to combat the spread of "false news" on its platform, starting with a pilot in Karnataka, which goes to polls next month.

Facebook said it has partnered with BOOM, an independent digital journalism initiative certified through the International Fact-Checking Network, for a pilot in Karnataka.

Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held on May 12.

In a blogpost today, the US social networking giant said the programme in India aims "to fight the spread of false news on our platform".

BOOM will review English language news stories flagged on Facebook, check facts, and rate their accuracy, it said.

Facebook is running similar initiatives in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and the US.

Over the last few weeks, Facebook has drawn intense criticism from users and governments globally over a number of issues, ranging from false news on the platform to information of over 80 million users being mined by data analytics and political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica.

The Indian government had also questioned both the companies on the impact of the data breach. Facebook had admitted that nearly 5.62 lakh people in India were "potentially affected" by the incident. 
Testifying before the US Congress, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said his organisation was committed to ensure integrity of elections across the world, including India.

In its blogpost, the company said it believes that "once a story is rated as false, we have been able to reduce its distribution by 80 per cent, and thereby, improve accuracy of information on Facebook and reduce misinformation".

Facebook has already stated that it will use reports from community along with other signals to send stories to fact-checking organisations.

"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," it said.

Detailing out the process, Facebook said after a story is rated as false by the fact-checker, it will figure lower in News Feed, "significantly reducing its distribution".

"This in turn stops the hoax from spreading and reduces the number of people who see it. Pages and domains that repeatedly share false news will also see their distribution reduced and their ability to monetise and advertise removed," it said.

This, Facebook said, will help curb the spread of "financially motivated false news".

"We also want to empower people to decide for themselves what to read, trust, and share by providing the community with more information and control... If third-party fact-checkers write articles debunking a false news story, we'll show it in Related Articles immediately below the story in News Feed," Facebook said.

Facebook will also send people and Page administrators notifications if they try to share a story or have shared one in the past that has been determined to be false.

"While third party fact checking is part of our ongoing efforts to combat spread of false news, we are working hard to improve the accuracy of information on Facebook in various ways," it added.&nbsp

Karnataka goes to the polls on May 12. The fact-checking services will be provided by a third party

Social networking giant Facebook is introducing a third-party fact-checking programme in India to combat the spread of "false news" on its platform, starting with a pilot in Karnataka, which goes to polls next month. Facebook said it has partnered with BOOM, an independent digital journalism initiative certified through the International Fact-Checking Network, for a pilot in Karnataka. Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held on May 12. In a blogpost today, the US social networking giant said the programme in India aims "to fight the spread of false news on our platform". BOOM will review English language news stories flagged on Facebook, check facts, and rate their accuracy, it said. Facebook is running similar initiatives in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, Indonesia, the Philippines and the US. Over the last few weeks, Facebook has drawn intense criticism from users and governments globally over a number of issues, ranging from false news on the platform to information of over 80 million users being mined by data analytics and political consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica. The Indian government had also questioned both the companies on the impact of the data breach. Facebook had admitted that nearly 5.62 lakh people in India were "potentially affected" by the incident. Testifying before the US Congress, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had said his organisation was committed to ensure integrity of elections across the world, including India. In its blogpost, the company said it believes that "once a story is rated as false, we have been able to reduce its distribution by 80 per cent, and thereby, improve accuracy of information on Facebook and reduce misinformation". Facebook has already stated that it will use reports from community along with other signals to send stories to fact-checking organisations. "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," it said. Detailing out the process, Facebook said after a story is rated as false by the fact-checker, it will figure lower in News Feed, "significantly reducing its distribution". "This in turn stops the hoax from spreading and reduces the number of people who see it. Pages and domains that repeatedly share false news will also see their distribution reduced and their ability to monetise and advertise removed," it said. This, Facebook said, will help curb the spread of "financially motivated false news". "We also want to empower people to decide for themselves what to read, trust, and share by providing the community with more information and control... If third-party fact-checkers write articles debunking a false news story, we'll show it in Related Articles immediately below the story in News Feed," Facebook said. Facebook will also send people and Page administrators notifications if they try to share a story or have shared one in the past that has been determined to be false. "While third party fact checking is part of our ongoing efforts to combat spread of false news, we are working hard to improve the accuracy of information on Facebook in various ways," it added.

Facebook introduces fact-checking programme to fight fake news; starts pilot in Karnataka

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With Lok Sabha elections coming, Facebook says it is expanding its fact-checking network

Facebook introduces fact-checking programme to fight fake news; starts pilot in Karnataka