Bengaluru: With the state heading for the polls in May, Facebook has announced a third-party fact-checking programme here to fight spread of fake news on its platform.

The social media giant on Tuesday partnered with BOOM, an independent digital journalism initiative, for a pilot programme that will first roll out in the southern state.

Karnataka goes to election on May 12, and the counting of votes will take place on May 15.

 "Starting today, BOOM, certified through the International Fact-Checking Network, non-partisan international fact checking network at Poynter, will be able to review English language news stories flagged on Facebook, check facts, and rate their accuracy," Facebook said in a blog post.

Facebook has 217 million monthly active users in India.

"We are beginning small and know it is important to learn from this test and listen to our community as we continue to update ways for people to understand what might be false news in their News Feed," it added.

Once a story is rated as false, Facebook has learned to reduce its distribution by 80 per cent.

"When a fact-checker rates a story as false, we will show it lower in News Feed, significantly reducing its distribution. This, in turn, stops the hoax from spreading and reduces the number of people who see it," Facebook said.

"We'll also send people and Page Admins notifications if they try to share a story or have shared one in the past that's been determined to be false," Facebook noted.

According to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it is important to make sure no one interferes in any more elections, including in India.

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New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met President of Serbia Aleksandar Vučić and discussed ways to deepen cooperation in areas such as defence, manufacturing, fertilisers and infrastructure.

The meeting took place on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit being held here from February 16-20.

"Met President Aleksandar Vučić on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit. We discussed ways to deepen cooperation in areas such as defence, manufacturing, DPI, fertilisers and infrastructure. For many years, India and Serbia have worked closely and I am confident our ties will gain even more momentum in the times to come," Modi wrote on X.

Vučić said the two leaders were proud of the friendship between Serbia and India, and the people of the two nations.

"India is a reliable and important partner for us, and we want to deepen economic exchange and encourage new investment projects. I am especially happy because India wants significant participation in the Serbian #Expo," he said in a post on X in Serbian.

The India AI Impact Expo features more than 600 high-potential startups and 13 country pavilions showcasing international collaboration in the artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem. Over 20 heads of state, 60 ministers and 500 global AI leaders are attending the summit.