State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert on Thursday described a new program at the U.S. Embassy in Kenya that helps locals combat fake news.
The program, run out of the American Center in the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, explains the importance of sources in news stories, among other tools to help identify false or misleading stories. Nauert told reporters at a press briefing that the U.S. ambassador to Kenya, Robert Godec, started the program.
Nauert noted that many young people have trouble identifying legitimate news sites and distinguishing between legitimate and fake news.
"That seems to be an issue, especially with younger people nowadays, perhaps with folks around the world as well where they don't know how to go to legitimate sites, or they don't ask the questions and verify themselves what the source is of this information," Nauert said. "So I think the ambassador was just trying to help teach young people in particular how to identify real news and how to identify fake news, and so I think it's probably a good idea."
"If it's going on in other embassies, I'm just not aware of it," Nauert added.
Fake news has recently been a problem in Kenya, as it has been in the U.S.