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Facebook launches coronavirus fact-checker for WhatsApp users in Italy

The service lets users run content from the messaging service through a fact-checking tool to see if it's legit.

Ry Crist Senior Editor / Reviews - Labs
Originally hailing from Troy, Ohio, Ry Crist is a writer, a text-based adventure connoisseur, a lover of terrible movies and an enthusiastic yet mediocre cook. A CNET editor since 2013, Ry's beats include smart home tech, lighting, appliances, broadband and home networking.
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Ry Crist
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Angela Lang/CNET

Italy is ground zero for the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, and Facebook's messaging platform WhatsApp is the country's most popular messaging platform. On Thursday, Facebook launched a new tool for its Italian WhatsApp users that lets them verify the authenticity of any coronavirus-related content they might come across.

It's all part of ongoing efforts to combat the spread of misinformation, Facebook tells Reuters, and it follows the establishment of WhatsApp's Coronavirus Information Hub in March, an effort to make verified information about the pandemic available to WhatsApp users. Now, Italians can also forward the content they come across to the fact-checking service Facta for analysis.

Facebook didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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