BBC India launches election chatbot on Facebook messenger platforms

BBC India on Tuesday launched an experimental interactive election chatbot in Hindi and English on Facebook's Messenger platform as part of a series of Indian General Election related content. "The chatbot allows users to interact with the BBC, ask questions and get regular updates as the elections unfold," a BBC statement notes.

The latest development follows the British Broadcasting Corporation's first-ever voice activated interactive bulletin in Hindi. The special election coverage will be available on smartphones and allow users across India to instruct their voice device to navigate through the news according to their interest. "Elections are the noisiest time in India. It's important to cut through the noise and help voters make informed decisions," said Rupa Jha, Head of BBC Indian Languages.

"We have added modern innovations in storytelling to our trademark journalistic rigour in the BBC's election coverage across India," she said. To access the new interactive bulletin, people will be able open up Google Assistant on their phone or smart speaker and say "Ok Google, Talk to BBC Elections" or the same phrase in Hindi.

The service will be updated every afternoon and is aimed at giving users the chance to "connect" with BBC election news coverage. Besides the innovations, BBC Reality Check will also have a specific election service in English and six Indian language services to debunk fake news stories and unravel issues at the heart of the debate.

"The BBC Reality Check reports will focus on issues that affect lives and livelihoods in contemporary India, analyse claims by political parties covering a wide range of topics from the economy and social policy to national security," the BBC said. Indians began voting in a seven-phase general election from last Thursday, with results set to be announced on May 23.

(With inputs from agencies.)