Facebook Launches Fact-Checking of its Content in Slovakia

Bratislava, February 12 (TASR) - As part of its fight against disinformation and false news, Facebook announced the launch of its fact-checking program in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in collaboration with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Tuesday (February 11), TASR has learnt. Facebook already collaborates with independent third-party fact checkers from all around the world, who review the content of posts and rate their accuracy. "We're glad that we can launch our fact-checking program in Slovakia and the Czech Republic in co-operation with AFP. The fight against fake news is a commitment that we take very seriously," claimed Facebook's Strategic Partner Development Manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa Guido Buelow. Once a post is rated as "false" by a fact-checker, it will appear lower in the News Feed and be displayed with a warning. If users try to share the content, they as well as users attempting to read it will be notified that the post was rated as "false". Furthermore, pages and domains sharing such material repeatedly will see their ability to monetise and advertise removed. Currently, Facebook boasts more than 50 fact-checking partners, who review and rate content all around the globe in more than 40 languages. mf/mcs/bub