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.
As you can see in this example, 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 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.
As explained by Google:
“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.”
The new label will appear on Top Stories,
while everything from articles, to interviews to press releases will be
eligible for the new tag.
And aside from promoting key source
research, Google’s also hoping that it will help to elevate original reporting,
“making it even easier for people to discover and engage with the publishers
and journalists whose work brings unique value to a story.”
The highly cited label is launching soon on
mobile in English for the US, with other regions to follow in the coming weeks.
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.
Which is a battle that can never be won,
not fully, as the rapid pace of online publishing makes it impossible to
completely stop the spread of false and misleading information, either via bad
actors or unwitting users and publications.
But it can be slowed significantly. With
the right systems in place, Google, as well as all the other major platforms,
can detect and limit the spread of potentially harmful untruths, and stop them
from gaining viral traction, which is the key focus of initiatives like this.
Still, Google-owned YouTube remains a key
source of misinformation, while Google also inadvertently funds many click-bait
farms through its ad tools. As such, it clearly has a way to go in addressing
these elements, but every step is another move in the right direction, and it’s
good to see Google continuing to evolve its fact-checking programs, especially
as people increasingly rely on online sources over more traditional (legacy?)
news outlets.