Google Adds New Tools to Help Limit the Spread of Misinformation Online
A new article on Social Media Today reports that with International Fact-Checking Day coming up on April 2nd, Google has provided a new overview of its evolving efforts to detect misinformation online, and limit the reach of false reports in partnership with its fact-checking partners.
Google has significantly ramped up its efforts to address misinformation, with a range of Search upgrades and alerts to help users better understand the sources that they're connecting with for updates. And now, Google's bringing more tools to the fight.
First off, Google's adding a new notice on evolving news stories which will alert searchers that the facts are still being clarified. The new alerts, rolling out for English-language searches in the US, will make the searcher aware of the evolving nature of the story, and will include tips to help the user evaluate information online, like a reminder of the importance of relying on trusted sources.
Small prompts like this are often all that's required to get users to take a moment of pause for clarity on such, before re-distributing false narratives, while it could also serve as a learning tool to improve digital literacy, by underlining the dangers of trusting everything that you read online.
Google's also adding a new 'Highly Cited' label to help users find the source info for major news stories.
In addition to these upgrades, Google also suggests that Searchers familiarize themselves with its Fact Check Explorer tool, which enables users to search for any topic that they have questions about, and cross-references over 150,000 fact checks to provide more context. While you can also cross-check the history of any website via the Search results page.
Google also highlights its continued support of a number of fact-checking programs through its Google News Initiative, helping to enhance the expertise available to examine and verify online information.
Google has significantly ramped up its efforts to address misinformation, with a range of Search upgrades and alerts to help users better understand the sources that they're connecting with for updates. And now, Google's bringing more tools to the fight.
First off, Google's adding a new notice on evolving news stories which will alert searchers that the facts are still being clarified. The new alerts, rolling out for English-language searches in the US, will make the searcher aware of the evolving nature of the story, and will include tips to help the user evaluate information online, like a reminder of the importance of relying on trusted sources.
Small prompts like this are often all that's required to get users to take a moment of pause for clarity on such, before re-distributing false narratives, while it could also serve as a learning tool to improve digital literacy, by underlining the dangers of trusting everything that you read online.
Google's also adding a new 'Highly Cited' label to help users find the source info for major news stories.
| "Let's say a local news organization breaks an investigative story looking into problems at your local school district. The story is so big that it gets picked up by numerous other media outlets. But what if you didn't see that original story, which had unique context for local residents? We're introducing a way to help you identify stories that have been frequently cited by other news organizations, giving you a simple way to find the most helpful or relevant information for a news story." |
Google also highlights its continued support of a number of fact-checking programs through its Google News Initiative, helping to enhance the expertise available to examine and verify online information.
