Free Web Search Chatbot 🤖

Last week, a relative messaged me in Facebook Messenger and asked me to Google something for her. I did and then sent her a link and screenshot, both of which she told me she could not access because of her reliance to Free Facebook data. So I copy-pasted the text results instead.

Then it hit me. There’s a good chunk of Facebook users that rely exclusively on its Free Facebook sub-features. For these people, Facebook is the Internet. They, more than anyone, need access to reliable information that does not depend on catchy yet misleading article headlines and chain messages forwarded in Messenger endlessly without prior research.

So over the weekend, I made a Facebook Messenger-based chatbot that acts as a simple search engine tool for people without access to the Internet outside the Free Facebook network. They can perform search queries, after which the bot will reply with a list of results. The grand goal is to prevent spreading of disinformation and combat fake news, which is most prevalent in places with limited access to information in the web.

It’s still quite simple as it is but it’s a start. This may not be personally useful to you, but kindly share it to others to whom it may be of use.

To use the bot, open the Messenger app, tap the Search bar and type “Free Web Search”, or simply click this: http://m.me/FreeWebSearch

UPDATE #1: Users may also use it as a very primitive web browser. Send a link (e.g. “http://www.phmountains.com") will make the bot respond with the text-only version of the website.

UPDATE #2: As suggested by others, I have set up a crowdfunding campaign for the maintenance costs of the chatbot: http://bit.ly/fundfreewebsearch