Social media giant Meta launched an integrated safety campaign on Tuesday in an effort to raise awareness of the importance of disinformation.
The tech giant’s ‘Know What’s Real’ campaign aims to educate users on how to identify and tackle misinformation on WhatsApp and Instagram by promoting digital best practices and highlighting the safety tools available.
The eight-week campaign will highlight the built-in product features and safety measures on WhatsApp, including blocking and reporting and label forwarding.
It will also encourage people to verify information that sounds suspicious or inaccurate through fact-checking organizations on WhatsApp channels, the company said.
On Instagram, its partner fact-checkers placed warning labels around inaccurate or misleading content, the company said. It also limits the reach of content labeled ‘False’ by our fact-checkers so that fewer people can see it, under existing mechanisms.
Through this campaign, Meta will further encourage people not to forward or share inauthentic content, but instead report it to the complaints officer or one of the independent fact-checking partners to verify information.
Commenting on the programme, Shivnath Thukral, Director of Public Policy India, Meta, said: “Meta is committed to fighting misinformation online. We’ve invested in industry-leading programs such as building a robust network of independent fact-checkers committed to debunking false claims and helping citizens access trustworthy information, including partnering with Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) to launch a WhatsApp tipline launch to curb AI. disinformation generated.”
Last week, Meta had announced a dedicated WhatsApp fact-checking chatbot in partnership with MCA in a bid to combat artificial intelligence (AI)-generated misinformation, especially deepfakes.
Furthermore, the company also runs a fact-checking program in India, which includes partnerships with eleven independent fact-checking organizations, which can verify content in fifteen Indian languages and English.
“The campaign is an extension of our ongoing efforts to prevent the spread of misinformation and serves as a simple safety guide to educate people on the role they can play to combat it,” Thukral added.
First print: February 27, 2024 | 4:34 PM IST