WhatsApp in collaboration with International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) had launched a chatbot on the messaging app to provide correct information about the coronavirus pandemic. The IFCN chatbot which was developed by the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) was launched to curb the spread of misinformation about COVID-19. But now the bot has got Hindi language support, it was earlier available only in English and Spanish languages.
With the IFCN chatbot getting Hindi language support, a lot of people across India who are oblivious to the English language will now have access to correct information about the coronavirus. IFCN has partnered with several well-known media outlets in India including India Today, Vishvas News, Fact Crescendo, Newschecker, Boom Fact Check, News Mobile, and The Quint.
The chatbot will help users verify whether a piece of information they have received on the app has been rated false by the professional fact-checker. IFCN updates the data regularly. “The Hindi version offers content from Vishvas News, Fact Crescendo, India Today, Newschecker, Boom Fact Check, News Mobile and The Quint. The database that feeds the system started with more than 250 fact-checks and will be updated daily following the same structure that has been established for the English and the Spanish chatbots. Since January, more than 80 fact-checking organizations from 74 countries have identified more than 6,600 hoaxes related to the novel coronavirus. All this information now forms the CoronaVirusFacts database., “ the statement by IFCN read.
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