SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook said on Thursday it would launch fact-checking of photos and videos as it expands the effort to curb misinformation to more countries. The social network said it will use machine learning and other technical tools for its effort to clamp down on manipulated images and videos.

“One challenge in fighting misinformation is that it manifests itself differently across content types and countries,” said a blog post from Facebook product manager Tessa Lyons.

“To address this, we expanded our test to fact-check photos and videos to four countries. This includes those that are manipulated (e.g. a video that is edited to show something that did not really happen) or taken out of context (e.g. a photo from a previous tragedy associated with a different, present day conflict).”

After being blamed for allowing misinformation and manipulation during the 2016 US election, Facebook has stepped up efforts to clamp down on fake accounts and the spread of hoaxes, rumors and other false information.

Lyons said Facebook’s fact-checking efforts is now in place in 14 countries, with more to be added this year, using independent partners to verify information.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2018