Social media giant, Facebook has taken huge measures to tackle fake news on its platform. The company has made a move to tackle fake news with the support of local African languages.
The social media giant is adding checks to local language contents on its platform, among African users. This is part of an ongoing third-party fact-checking program in partnership with Africa Check, an independent fact-checking organization.
The social media giant is collaborating with Africa Check to enhance the support of local African languages like;
Nigeria: Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa
South Africa: Afrikaans, isiZulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho, and Southern Ndebele
Senegal: Swahili in Kenya and Wolof
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Facebook’s fact-checking program, which was first launched in Kenya in 2018 in a bid to curb fake news, demotes stories identified as false in the news feed. The false stories are also tagged with warnings when users attempt to post or share.
Kenya’s local languages were also added to the program due to its prominence as regards to spreading fake news. It is alleged that most fake news spread during Kenya’s general elections went through Facebook and WhatsApp channels. Even Malawi with little internet coverage encountered the same issue during elections.
The company in May shut down a range of Israeli-linked fake accounts which targeted African elections. This is why Facebook thought it super imperative to take measures to curb the spread of fake news in Africa.