Africa-Press – Lesotho. Google and YouTube have taken up the role of fighting misinformation by investing in products, programmes and partnerships to help people access high-quality information.
In November last year, they announced a $13.2 million grant to the International Fact-Checking Network to launch a new Global Fact Check Fund. This will support their network of 135 fact-checking organisations from 65 countries covering over 80 languages.
The topic of misinformation reached an all-time high worldwide in October last year, according to Google trends data. The fund is expected to open early this year.
The Global Fact Check Fund will help fact-checkers scale existing operations or launch new ones that elevate information, uplift credible sources and reduce the harm of mis and disinformation around the globe.
Fact-checking organisations can use the funding to incorporate new technologies and create or expand digital footprints. They can also optimise verification tools and increase their capacities to deepen audience engagement through innovative storytelling formats such as video, audio, or podcasts.
This year, YouTube is slated to host a training series for fact-checking organisations interested in learning more about the platform It will also train on the best practices for video content strategy and engagement.
YouTube also recently launched Hit Pause. This is a media literacy initiative meant to help viewers spot and evaluate misinformation. Google has also continued to partner with organisations focused on media literacy through the Google News Initiative.
Since 2018, the initiative has invested nearly $75 million in projects and partnerships working to strengthen media literacy and combat misinformation around the world.
According to Google, the Global Fact Check fund seeks to build on that commitment. An easy way for one to find information from independent fact-checking organisations includes the use of different fact-checkers on Google Search, News, and YouTube.
These find fact checks and additional context features can be found across these platforms. Fact checks from independent organisations in Google Search results where Google highlights relevant fact-check articles in results.
This is in Search, News, and Google Images to ensure people get the full context while they are searching. Fact check panels on YouTube that appear at the top of search results for queries related to a specific claim.
This helps provide viewers with additional context. According to YouTube, these panels are available in six countries and they are working to roll them out in additional markets.
There is also the fact check section in Google News on the desktop. In addition to headlines, people will now see the original claim made along with the fact-checked assessment from independent organisations. There is the fact check explorer that searches claims from among 150,000 fact checks from reputable publishers.
Following a major news event, the breaking news panel may appear in YouTube search results for relevant questions, showing one developing stories from news sources that follow Google News and content policies.
The about this result is another Search feature that helps one see more context about a result before visiting a page; just by tapping the three dots next to the result.
When information searched for isn’t broadly available yet, Google search automatically shows a notice on the results. They indicate that it can take time for a range of sources to publish information on a topic.
Through these ways, Google helps one better understand the information they come across online. Google and YouTube are committed to continuing to support journalists and fact-checking organisations to fight against misinformation.
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