Lisbon, 01 Aug 2019 (Lusa) – Facebook today announced that Polígrafo is its second fact-checking partner in Portugal, after the Observer, who started collaborating with the social network last May .

In early July, Facebook public policy director Andy O’Connell stated in parliament that the social network was “exploring ways to engage fact checkers” in Portugal, in addition to the Observer’s partnership. .

“Today, Facebook announces the expansion of the fact-checking program in Portugal with Polygraph, which is certified by the non-partisan organization International Fact-Checking Network and which, starting this month, will review and evaluate the accuracy of content “on the social network, says the entity in a statement.

“This is the second fact-checking partner in Portugal after the Observer joined the program in May,” he adds.

The Polygraph is dedicated to verifying the statements that are spoken in the public space, by politicians, influencers and the fake news movements.

“Fighting fake news is a responsibility that we take very seriously and that is why we are constantly working on ways to prevent the spread of misinformation on our platform,” says Natalia Basterrechea, Facebook Spain and Portugal public policy officer.

“By expanding our fact-checking program in Portugal we help people better understand the information they see and also reduce the spread of fake content on the platform,” continued the official.

“We are delighted that Polygraph joined our program,” he concluded.

This program is “aligned with Facebook’s three-part structure to improve the quality and authenticity of content in the ‘News Feed’: Facebook removes accounts and content that violates community standards or advertising policies; reduces distribution. Fake news and untruthful content like ‘clickbait’ [strategy to increase internet traffic], and informs people by giving them more context in the ‘posts’ they see, ”says the social network.

The program currently has 54 worldwide information partners in 42 languages, and “Facebook is investing in ways to further scale up these efforts.”

A fact checker is someone or a company that verifies the facts, information available on online platforms, and certifies whether or not the content is true.