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WhatsApp is introducing a chatbot to help with coronavirus fact-checking.
The new feature — which was launched this week by the Poynter Institute for Media Studies’ International Fact-Checking Network — will connect the messaging app‘s users with more than 80 organizations to tell them whether certain information is false.
The database includes rumors determined as false — including fake vaccines and miracle cures — as well as racist misinformation about the spread of the coronavirus, and false claims that COVID-19 was caused by 5G.
IFCN’s director Baybars Orsek said: “Hundreds of millions of users rely on WhatsApp to stay in touch with their friends and families every day.
“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.”
Furthermore, the Facebook-owned messaging platform has also created a coronavirus information hub, limited message forwarding and donated $1 million to help fight fake news.
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