Facebook Launches Third-Party Fact-Checking in Malaysia

Facebook announced the launch of its third-party fact-checking program in Malaysia in partnership with Agence France-Presse (AFP),  The program aims to reduce the spread of misinformation online and to help to build a more informed community in Malaysia.

When third-party fact-checkers rates a story as false, it will appear lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution. AFP fact-checkers will fact-check content on Facebook in English and Malay and will follow a standard set of criteria when determining the veracity of stories.

This program is in line with Facebook’s three-part framework to improve the quality and authenticity of stories in the News Feed, wherein Facebook removes accounts and content that violate its Community Standards or ad policies, reduces the distribution of false news and inauthentic content like clickbait, and informs people by giving them more context on the posts they see.

“AFP is committed to debunking disinformation around the world. With the addition of Malaysia and Bahasa Malaysia, AFP now writes fact checks in eight different languages, including English, French and Arabic, covering more than 20 countries worldwide. In the Asia-Pacific, AFP is already fact-checking in Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, and Sri Lanka,” said Cat Barton, AFP Asia Fact Check Editor.

Facebook’s fact-checking program, which now works with 54 partners around the world covering content in 43 languages, also relies on feedbackfrom the Facebook community, as a signal to raise potentially false stories to fact-checkers for review. This is the latest in a series of Facebook’s efforts to curb false news in Malaysia and Facebook will continue exploring efforts to support building an informed community.