Bam Aquino: Facebook’s fact-checking program will boost fight vs fake news

The partnership of Facebook with two local media outlets for a third-party fact checking program would strengthen the fight against fake news, Senator Bam Aquino said on Saturday.

Aquino said the move of the social media giant to partner with the media outlets would help prevent the spread of disinformation across social media.

“With disinformation spreading like wildfire through social media, it’s encouraging to see Facebook take a stronger stance on this issue and partner with agencies that are genuinely fighting fake news,” Aquino said in a statement.

Facebook made the announcement in the wake of the data sharing controversy where the personal data of some 87 million Facebook users worldwide was accessed by communication firm Cambridge Analytica to allegedly aid the election campaign of now United States President Donald Trump.

According to Facebook’s Chief Technology Officer Mike Schroepfer, around more than 1 million Filipino Facebook users were exposed to the data sharing controversy.

“We’re glad Facebook has decided to enter into a local fact-checking coalition in the aftermath of its failure to protect millions of personal data from being exposed,” Aquino said.   /muf