Twitter, Craigslist co-founders back startup Factmata

LONDON: Twitter Inc co-founder Biz Stone and Craigslist Inc co-founder Craig Newmark are investing in London-based fact-checking startup Factmata, the company said. It declined to disclose either the amount of the investment or the valuation of the deal. “It’s critical for societal progress to proactively address misinformation,” Stone said in a statement provided by Factmata. He said the company is “approaching the issue with exactly the right combination of big thinking, focus, and cuttingedge science.” Factmata aims to use artificial intelligence to help social media companies, publishers and advertising networks weed out fake news, propaganda and clickbait.

The company says its technology can also help detect online bullying and hate speech.

Founded last year, the company is one of a growing number of big technology firms, startups and nongovernmental organizations aiming to combat the spread of fraudulent news stories on digital platforms.

The US government is investigating Russian-backed efforts to deliberately spread false information during the 2016 presiden- tial campaign. In the UK, Parliament is also looking into whether a similar Russian-linked campaign sought to sway voters’ views during the 2016 Brexit vote and the 2017 general election.

Newmark and Stone are joining other wellknown investors, including Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, MuleSoft Inc founder Ross Mason, Zynga Inc co-founder Mark Pincus and internet entrepreneur Sunil Paul, who participated in a US$750,000 seed funding round for Factmata in September.