Anyone who works with information in Bangladesh — a reporter, a teacher, a page admin, a union parishad clerk — can now take the same introductory fact-checking course that professional fact-checkers start with, free and in Bangla. Meta and the International Fact-Checking Network, the Poynter Institute’s body that certifies fact-checkers worldwide, announced on Wednesday that the course is open to journalists, academics and “anyone interested” across the Asia-Pacific region.
What is in it
Three modules, designed to be completed in two to three hours at your own pace. The first covers the basics of fact-checking: what a claim is, how to rate it, how a fact-check differs from an opinion. The second is verification — the working tools: reverse image search to find where a photo first appeared, checking video frames, geolocating a picture from what is visible in it, tracing a quote to its source, reading metadata. The third is health misinformation, the category that dominated the pandemic and still dominates WhatsApp forwards here, with guidance on reading studies and quoting doctors. Finish the modules and there is a certificate. The course is available in 15 languages including Bangla.
Who is behind it
IFCN sets the code of principles that fact-checking organisations sign to work with Meta; in Bangladesh its signatories include BOOM Bangladesh and Fact-Watch, whose ratings are what make a Facebook post carry a “false information” label. “Fact-checking is essential for identifying misinformation,” said Aya Lowe, Meta’s integrity partnerships manager for Asia-Pacific, adding that she hoped the course would build skills across the region. Ferdi Özsoy, IFCN’s interim director, said it would raise journalism standards in Asia-Pacific.
Why now
Bangladesh votes within the year, and the previous two elections were accompanied by waves of fabricated screenshots, doctored videos and fake news sites — much of it in Bangla, which the platforms’ automated systems handle badly. Meta’s interest is not disinterested: every trained fact-checker is a person who can flag content the company cannot read. But the tools taught are the real ones, and a newsroom where every reporter can do a reverse image search is a newsroom that publishes fewer fakes.
How to enrol
- Go to the IFCN course page linked from Meta’s announcement (search “IFCN fact-checking course Bangla”) and choose the Bangla version.
- Register with an email address; no institutional affiliation is needed.
- Complete the three modules in any order; the certificate is issued on completion of all three.
Two or three hours is not much to ask for a skill that the country’s public conversation will need badly in the coming months.
