Technology
Facebook expands coverage of Kiswahili language

Facebook today with Africa Check announced that it has added new local language support for several African languages as part of its Third-Party Fact-Checking programme, which helps to assess the accuracy of news on Facebook and aims to reduce the spread of misinformation.
Local articles will be fact-checked alongside the verification of photos and videos. If one of Facebook’s fact-checking partners identifies a story as false, Facebook will show it lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution.
Launched in 2018 across five countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Facebook has partnered with Africa Check, Africa’s first independent fact-checking organization, to expand its local language coverage across:
- Nigeria, in Yoruba and Igbo, adding to Hausa which was already supported
- Swahili in Kenya
- Wolof in Senegal
- Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Sotho, Northern Sotho and Southern Ndebele in South Africa
Kojo Boakye, Facebook Head of Public Policy, Africa, said: “We continue to make significant investments in our efforts to fight the spread of false news on our platform, whilst building supportive, safe, informed and inclusive communities. Our third-party fact-checking programme is just one of many ways we are doing this, and with the expansion of local language coverage, this will help in further improving the quality of information people see on Facebook. We know there is still more to do, and we’re committed to this.”
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