WhatsApp Forwards Can Be Checked For Fake News Using This Bot

IFCN’s bot is free to use and has been developed under the supervision of professional fact checkers.

The challenge of dealing with fake news on WhatsApp lies in its encryption that doesn’t allow even the platform to access messages.

(Photo: Harsh Sahani/The Quint)

Poynter Institutes International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) has launched its chatbot on WhatsApp to help two billion users of the Facebook-owned instant messaging platform to check veracity of information related to COVID-19.

The IFCN's bot connects people with independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries and also with the largest database of debunked falsehoods related to the new coronavirus.

By using the IFCN's bot on WhatsApp, citizens from all over the world will be able to easily check whether a piece of content about COVID-19 has already been rated as false by professional fact-checkers.

The IFCN chatbot will allow users to search for fact checks and get connected with fact-checkers in their countries from their smartphones. The chatbot will also serve as a way to direct people to their local fact-checkers' websites.

IFCN’s bot is free to use. Users should save [phone] as a contact number and text the word ‘hi’ to get the bot started.

Initially, the bot will be available only in English, but other languages, including Hindi, Spanish and Portuguese, will follow soon, IFCN said.

Since January, more than 80 fact-checking organisations from 74 countries have identified more than 4,000 hoaxes related to the novel coronavirus.

All this information now forms the CoronaVirusFacts database and is updated daily by the IFCN so chatbot users can navigate and easily access its content.

The IFCN's bot also provides users with a global directory of fact-checking organisations.

The system is capable of identifying the user's country via the person's mobile country code and then providing them with their closest fact-checking organisations.

The person can then submit a piece of information for review directly to its local fact-checker or visit its website to learn more about what has been circulating in the region.

WhatsApp recently launched several initiatives in support of the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, one of them being a $1 million grant to IFCN.