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Facebook Introduces Use Of Local Languages To Eradicate Fake News

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New local language support for several languages in African culture has been included to strengthen the third-party fact-checking event by Social Media Giant Facebook partnering with Africa check.

This new innovation aids the accurate and precise publication of news as well as reduction of fake news.

Local language support was lunched through five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroun. Facebook collaborated with the first independent fact-checking organisation of the continent to enlarge the local language across Nigeria in Yoruba and Igbo including Hausa language; Swahili, Kenya; Wolof,Senegal and Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Southern Ndebele in South Africa in 2018.

The information was made known in Johannesburg, the Commercial Capital of South Africa by the Tech Giants on 14th August 2019.

Kojo Boakye, the Facebook Head of Public Policy, Africa stated that: “We continue to make significant investments in our efforts to fight the spread of false news on our platform while building supportive, safe, informed and inclusive communities. Our third-party fact-checking programme is just one of many ways we are doing this, and with the expansion of local language coverage, this will help in further improving the quality of information people see on Facebook. We know there is still more to do, and we are committed to this.”

Noko Makagato, the Executive Director of Africa check also said that: “We are thrilled to be expanding the arsenal of the languages we cover in our work on Facebook’s third-party fact-checking programme. In countries as linguistically diverse as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Senegal, fact-checking in local languages is vital. Not only does it let us fact-check more content on Facebook, but it also means we will be reaching more people across Africa with verified and credible information.”

The Facebook fact-checking programme stated that the feedback received from the communities is the major source to identify fake stories and find an adequate solution as soon as possible.

American Company stated that the local articles, videos and photos will be verified adequately.