Sebenarnya.my chatbot AIFA launched to combat fake news

CYBERJAYA: Minister of Communications Fahmi Fadzil today launched the Sebenarnya.my Chatbot, known as AIFA, aimed to combat fake news and enable users to check the authenticity of unverified news online.

AIFA or Artificial Intelligence Fact-check Assistant (AIFA), led by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), is a user-friendly platform accessible 24/7 through the portal https://sebenarnya.my/ and WhatsApp platform at 03-86887997.

In his speech at the launch, Fahmi said that AIFA will also play an important role in enhancing the functions of the Sebenarnya.my portal, with three main objectives - to help the public verify and obtain accurate information quickly and easily; to accelerate responses to false information online and; to strengthen the role of Sebenarnya.my in addressing the spread of fake news in Malaysia.

"AIFA is an important tool to empower the public with information verified by the relevant authorities and to reduce the harmful impact of the fake news that spreads.

"With this facility, the MCMC is offering the public an easy, fast, and reliable way to verify the information they receive or encounter online," he said.

AIFA also uses algorithms and machine learning to match information with trustworthy sources and quickly provide accurate and verified information to users. It is available in four languages - Malay, English, Mandarin, and Tamil - to ensure access for a diverse range of users.

However, Fahmi said that, at the moment, AIFA only accepts input in text format, but will be expanded to accept other formats such as videos or graphics in the future.

"Moving forward, I urge the MCMC to expand the use of AIFA, firstly within the MADANI Community under the Information Department, and secondly through the more than 1,000 National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI) which have 1.3 million members," he said.

On the issue of fraudulent online content, the minister said the MCMC had requested the removal of 1,575 pieces of fraudulent content so far this year (as of Jan 27) and of the total, 1,233 pieces were taken down by the relevant platforms after being verified as false.

Last year alone, he said the MCMC requested the removal of 19,546 fraudulent content from various online platforms, and of that total, 17,245 pieces were removed by all platforms involved.

-- BERNAMA