IFCN's Chatbot on WhatsApp-- The Poynter Institute’s International Fast-Checking Network (IFCN), has just launched an official bot on WhatsApp to help us verify news on the internet, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic.Send the Hello Message to the number +1 (727) 2912606
The Poynter Institute’s International Fast-Checking Network (IFCN), has just launched an official bot on WhatsApp to help us verify news on the internet, particularly during this COVID-19 pandemic.
By using the IFCN's chatbot on WhatsApp, citizens from all over the world will be able to easily check whether a piece of shared content about COVID-19 has already been rated as false by professional fact-checkers, a statement said.
The bot allows users to ask questions about the virus or look at the latest fact checks published by official fact-checkers from both India and overseas.
IFCN's Chatbot on WhatsApp:
If you want to use this chatbot, do the following.
- Send the Hello Message to the number +1 (727) 2912606, also you can do it from this [link].
- Wait until you get the chatbot menu.
- Start the conversation with your inquiries.
- If we type a number from 1 to 6 we will receive the following information:
- Search for fact checks.
- Latest fact checks
- Tips to fight is information.
- Find fact-checkers near me
- Information about the International Fast-Checking Network.
- Privacy information.
🛎️ Are you on WhatsApp? Add @factchecknet's chatbot number to your contact's list and avoid #covid19 hoaxes. You will be connected to a database of more than 4,000 falsehoods that have already been debunked by professional #factcheckers around the world 👉 https://t.co/BcgPddlYA0 pic.twitter.com/q4Bf5TNUag— IFCN (@factchecknet) May 4, 2020
Initially, the IFCN's chatbot - which is free to use - will be available only in English, but other languages, including Hindi, Spanish and Portuguese, will follow soon, it added.
In a statement, IFCN Director Baybars Orsek said.
"Billions of users rely on WhatsApp to stay in touch with their friends and families every month. Since bad actors use every single platform to disseminate falsehoods, to mislead others during such troubling times, fact-checkers'' work is more important than ever,"
The IFCN''s bot has been built to address the challenge of misinformation, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, by connecting people with independent fact-checkers in more than 70 countries and also with the largest database of debunked falsehoods related to the new coronavirus, added in the statement.
Since January, more than 80 fact-checking organizations from 74 countries have identified more than 4,000 hoaxes related to novel coronavirus. The information has been compiled in the CoronaVirusFacts database and is updated daily by IFCN, so that chatbot users can navigate and easily access its content.
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 organizations. The user 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.
Ben Supple, Public Policy Manager, and Global Election Lead at WhatsApp said the platform has recently provided a grant to Poynter''s IFCN to support the valuable work of its verified signatories around the world in combating COVID-19 misinformation.
"We are very pleased to now be able to support IFCN''s essential fact-checking work with the launch of this important service for WhatsApp users. There are now more than 40 IFCN-verified fact-checkers around the world that are using the WhatsApp Business app to debunk coronavirus hoaxes for citizens in their respective countries," Supple said. PTI SR BAL BAL
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