Facebook says expanding fact-checking before polls

: Facebook Inc is expanding its fact-checking network in India to curb the spread of misinformation as the world’s largest democracy prepares for a general election that must be held by May, the US.-based social media giant said on Monday. “We are committed to fighting the spread of false news on Facebook, especially ahead of the 2019 general election campaign season,” Manish Khanduri, Facebook India’s news partnership head, said in the statement. Five new partners, including a local media house, have been added to Facebook’s fact-checker network, taking the total number to seven, the statement said. And the programme has been broadened to cover services in more Indian languages, so that it will now cover English and five local languages, the statement added.