Meta's fact-checking programme expanded in India to include 15 languages

BENGALURU: Meta (formerly Facebook) announced that it is expanding its third-party fact-checking program in India, and has included NewsMeter, a fact-checking platform focused on southern states. Meta said the partnership will help connect people with accurate and verified information and would enhance Meta's fact-checking capabilities in the country's numerous local languages.

All over the world, Meta partners with more than 80 fact-checking partners who review and rate content in more than 60 languages. With this partnership, Meta will have 11 fact-checking partners in India, making it the country with the largest number of third-party fact-checking partners globally.

Additionally, through its current fact-checking partners, Meta expanded its Indian language coverage from 11 to 15 partners to include Kashmiri, Bhojpuri, Oriya and Nepali, according to the NIE.

Manish Chopra, Director and Head of Partnerships, India at Meta said, "We are committed to combating the spread of misinformation and have built the largest global fact-checking network. The partnership with NewsMeter is an important step in enabling us to curb misinformation in regional Indian languages across Facebook and Instagram."

He added that when a piece of content is rated as false, altered or partly false by a fact-checker, its distribution is reduced so that only fewer people will see it. When people try to share this content, they - or those who have already shared it- are notified that a fact-checker has rated this information and a warning label linking the fact-checkers article with more information about the claim is added.