Facebook announced Thursday that it has launched a service in Italy to verify the veracity of the information on the coronavirus circulating on its WhatsApp messaging application. In an effort to fight against the spread of false news circulating on the pandemic, the American firm said that it was collaborating with the fact-checking service Facta, which can analyze videos, photos and audio content.
WhatsApp users can send a message to Facta via the app to request verification of the authenticity of content.
WhatsApp is the most used messaging application in Italy, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Europe, and traffic on the platform has increased due to deconfinement measures which have pushed people to use social networks to maintain the contact with family and friends. But it is also via WhatsApp that “ fakenews ” circulated, including certain content claiming that the coronavirus did not exist.
