Press releases and newsletter
AFP extends its fact-checking operation to Spain and Argentina
After Mexico and Colombia, AFP is expanding its Spanish language fact-checking operation to Spain and Argentina.
The articles will be freely accessible on the Spanish blog AFP Factual that is dedicated to verifying and debunking disinformation spread online.
Some of the fact-checked content will have been posted on Facebook and flagged by the social media platform.
The articles will respect the Agency’s established editing process, and AFP will choose independently what content to fact-check.
Based in Madrid and Buenos Aires, the new fact-checking teams will work with the Agency’s existing network of journalists and will check potentially fake content being distributed in Spain and Latin America. The agreement with Facebook includes the verification of images, an area of expertise for AFP.
“We are delighted with this further extension of our fact-checking contract with Facebook”, said the Agency’s Global News Director Phil Chetwynd. “The expansion of our operation to these two countries will allow us to develop our expertise and our fact-checking work in Spanish. Checking the facts is at the heart of AFP’s historic mission and our expertise in this area benefits our clients on a daily basis”.
This contract joins other initiatives taken by AFP in the fact-checking area:
- The collaborative project CrossCheck that debunked fake news during the 2017 French presidential election.
- AFP being recognised by the International Fact-Checking Network as one of its 67 media signatories of its code of principles.
- A partner in the Journalism Trust Initiative launched by Reporters Without Borders.
- Collaboration with Africa Check, which enjoys a global reputation for its work on verification of news in Africa.
- Producing specially formatted stories as part of the fact-check project.
AFP has developed its fact-checking operations in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic in 19 countries – South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cameroon, Colombia, France, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Senegal, Spain and Sri Lanka.
About AFP:
AFP is a global news agency delivering fast, accurate, in-depth coverage of the events shaping our world from conflicts to politics, economics, sports, entertainment and the latest breakthroughs in health, science and technology. With 2,400 staff spread across almost every country, AFP covers the world 24 hours a day in six languages. AFP delivers the news in video, text, photos, multimedia and graphics to a wide range of customers including newspapers and magazines, radio and TV channels, web sites and portals, mobile operators, corporate clients as well as public institutions.