False news has become a serious
issue in recent years, with misleading content posted on social media allegedly
influencing political elections and swaying public opinions.
Late last year, Facebook introduced
a third-party fact-checking programme to try and combat this problem in a few
key markets. The programme has rapidly expanded this year and from this week
will be available in South Africa and Kenya through partnerships with Africa
Check and AFP.
In a press briefing in Johannesburg
this morning, Facebook said the programme will help assess the accuracy of news
in South Africa and reduce the spread of misinformation, while improving the
quality of news people find on its platform.
Emilar Gandhi, public policy manager
for SADC Facebook, says: “We are not arbiters of truth and we don’t want
to be. We want to give that job to the experts in that field and then give our
community the power to make an informed decision on what content they want to
read.”
Africa Check and AFP will reactively
and proactively assess potential false content. Pieces of content can be
flagged by users, as well as the companies looking out for false news
themselves. Related articles, written by Africa Check or AFP, may also appear
under the false piece of content detailing the reasoning behind the decision.
Once content has been highlighted as
fake, it will appear much lower in users’ news feeds with a note giving context
from Africa Check or AFP to why this content may be false so that the user can
still choose to read it or not.
Both Africa Check and AFP have been
independently verified and are part of a global network of fact-checking
organisations, certified by the non-partisan International Fact-Checking
Network.
Page Admins and people on Facebook
will also receive notifications if they try to share a story or have shared one
in the past that’s been determined to be false.
“We’re committed to South
Africa, and take our responsibility seriously in tackling the spread of false
news, and helping to improve the quality of information people find on our
platform. Once a fact-checker rates a piece of content as false, we’re able to
reduce its future views by an average of 80%, helping to curb economic
incentives and reduce its spread,” says Gandhi.
How articles that have been flagged
by fact-checkers will appear in user’s news feeds.
How articles that have been flagged
by fact-checkers will appear in user’s news feeds.
Commenting on the partnership, Anim
van Wyk, chief editor of Africa Check says: “Until now, Africa Check has
had to play catch-up with misinformation that harms that is shared on social
media. Partnering with Facebook enables us to limit its spread very early on a
key platform. It’s a huge and exciting step forward for us”.
AFP global news director Mich`ele
L’eridon, says: “We are delighted with this new contract with Facebook in
South Africa and Kenya alongside Africa Check, which is renowned for its fact
checking work in Africa. The different initiatives set up by AFP in the fight
against disinformation testify to the Agency’s expertise and credibility in the
verification of information at a time when false news is proliferating.”
