Facebook teams with Asian College of Journalism to curb the spread of fake news in India

Facebook has been experiencing a tough time to fend off the spread of fake news on its platform. Not only Facebook but some other social media apps have been experiencing a tough time to fight the spread of fake news on their platforms. This already has led to many public lynching in India and is a serious concern that needs to be addressed. Following this, the social media giant has expanded its fight against the fake news to 14 different countries. Facebook has also made an announcement earlier that it will increase the scope of the fact-checking program in terms of geography and technology.

Now, in an effort to curb the spread of fake news on its platform and provide high-quality journalism in India, Facebook has made an announcement on Thursday that it has partnered up with Chennai-based Asian School of Journalism (ACJ). As a part of the company's Journalism Project that was announced last year to develop high-quality journalism around the world, the new partnership will also offer a scholarship programme at the Asian School of Journalism.

Campbell Brown, Facebook's Global Head of News Partnerships said, "The association with ACJ reflects our commitment to support the journalism ecosystem by training future journalists."
Facebook has around 270 million users in India, and with the new partnership with the Asian School of Journalism it will b able to train the journalism student on fact-based and high integrity journalism in this digital era, Facebook further mentioned in a statement.

Apart from the collaboration, the scholarship which is being offered by the Facebook will support five students from the ACJ in the careers including print, new media, radio, and TV. Facebook has further mentioned that it will be extending its collaboration with BOOMLive which is a Mumbai-based independent digital journalism initiative. BOOMLive is also a certified by the Poynter Institute which is an international fact-checking network.

Facebook is also planning towards strengthening its work and partnership around news literacy in India. The company has plans to further expand it across the local languages, Journalists, partner newsroom along with some fact checkers to develop an informed community.

Facebook's Journalism Project will also serve as a hub that will promote high-quality journalism on its platform along with its collaboration with the news publishers and fact-checking organization around the world.