It is undoubtedly an intense time for Facebook, amid its Q3 report and a series of allegations by whistleblower Frances Haugen about internal policy and potential misconduct.
Down under, Facebook is concentrating its efforts on a “check the facts” campaign with the Australian Associated Press to prevent the spread of misinformation ahead of the Australian election, which is slated for 2022.
Facebook and the AAP have described the series as an “educational campaign”, which will be running until November 24.
They say its aim is to “help inform and empower Australians to understand, identify and prevent the spread of misinformation, as well as how to support those close to them to do the same.”
The campaign also aligns with Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2021, whose theme for this year is ‘Media Literacy for the Public Good’.
In addition, AAP has developed a series of resources for its FactCheck website, which according to a press release, cover:
- “Defining misinformation and media literacy: Explains what misinformation is and its common characteristics, and defines media literacy and why it is important.”
- “How to ‘Check the Facts’: AAP’s professional fact-checkers break down how anyone can identify misinformation through three key questions.”
- “What is a trusted source?: How to identify what sources you can rely on in the information age.”
- “How to spot visual misinformation: A beginner’s guide on how to spot a fake image.”
Josh Machin, head of public policy for Facebook in Australia said in the release that: “We are proud to be partnering with AAP who are one of Facebook’s third party fact-checking partners in Australia.”
“We know that it can be challenging sometimes to identify misinformation on social media, especially when linked to COVID-19, which is why this initiative is so timely.”
“The levity in the campaign is to get people’s attention in a creative way – so that we can work with AAP to do the serious job of raising awareness and improving knowledge on this important topic.”
“Connecting people to accurate information is extremely important to Facebook and this campaign aims to provide people with new skills to make informed decisions on what to read, trust and share.”
