To fight against the spread of misinformation, the world’s biggest technology conglomerate Meta, formerly known as Facebook Inc, is taking aggressive measures by building an unprecedented global network of fact-checking partners to promote accurate information.
For the last couple of years, one of the major concerns regarding social media has been the spread of misinformation related to the pandemic and during national elections of the countries, which often has the potential for physical harm and instigating violence.
At times, content is spread with a deliberate intent to mislead and manipulate the general users of the social media platforms and regarding this, Alice Bodisatrijo, head of APAC for misinformation policy at Meta, said: “We don’t tolerate this activity and take these actors and their content down as soon as we become aware of them. We also disclose our work in this space through a monthly report in our Newsroom.”
There is a three-part strategy that Facebook has adopted to address misinformation on Facebook—remove, reduce, and inform through the help of a third-party fact-checker.
“We do not believe any single entity - either a private company or government - should have the power to decide what is true and what is false. When one single actor is the arbiter of truth, there is a power imbalance and the potential for overreach. With this in mind, we rely on independent fact-checkers to identify and review potential misinformation, which enables us to take action,” she said.
Meta partners with over 80 independent third-party fact-checkers globally, working in over 60 languages.
“Our partners have been certified through the independent, non-partisan International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). In 2021, we partnered with international partner AFP as well as Bangladesh-based organization Fact Watch as part of our ongoing efforts to reduce the spread of misinformation in Bangladesh,” she added.
Boom is an organization which has been Meta’s partner since 2020, when its fact-checking program was first introduced in the country. It reviews and rates the accuracy of Bangla and English stories on Facebook, including photos and videos in Bangladesh.
However, not all misinformation is taken down unless it violates the platform’s Community Standards.
Meta’s team significantly decreases the spread of a story on the Facebook News Feed as well as Instagram Feed when fact-checkers classify it as false, changed, or partly false, so that fewer people see it. Instagram makes it even more difficult to find by filtering it out of its Explore and tagged pages.
Meta has teamed up with Bangladesh's ICT Division and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to boost Covid-19 awareness and assist Bangladeshis in getting vaccinated.
It has also begun a public awareness campaign to teach Bangladeshis how to recognize and counter misleading information about Covid-19 and other health measures.
Through its advertisements, it reached over 23 million people and taught them how to recognize Covid-19 related misinformation online.