Facebook is now launching a pilot project in Italy for fact-checking on WhatsApp, as part of the co-regulation initiative defined by Agcom to face the challenge of disinformation about Coronavirus through digital platforms. The service - explains a note - is based on the partnership with Facta, the new project of Pagella Politica, signatory of the Poynter International Fact Checking Principles, which has been a partner of Facebook in Italy since 2018, as part of the global fact-checking program of the 'company.
It will allow WhatsApp users to send shared messages on the Covid-19 platform to Facta, so that the fact-checker can verify its accuracy.
"This solution will also help Facta create and publish, on its website, a database of facts and myths about the new coronavirus, for use by the public and the media as a source of information," adds the note. To use the free service, the first step is to save the Facta number in the contacts of your phone (+39 345 6022504), so you can send text or voice messages, videos or images whose authenticity you want to check. Facta will send a notification to the user who sent the request and, if it is a new false report, it will examine it and publish the analysis on its website: www.facta.news.
Furthermore, the fact-checker will constantly update its WhatsApp status with the latest verified news on COVID-19, which users can consult. Users who request it can also receive, via WhatsApp, a daily report of all the news verified by Facta.
