Google And YouTube Announce $13 Million Grant For International Fact-Checking Network

The term fact-checking is not a minor issue in the world of publishing. Today’s day and age call for stricter measures to be imposed considering the great number of imposters out there and the huge rates of fake news being published each second.

It’s almost as if users are distrusting the media because you never know who is right and who is not.

Both social media giants Google and YouTube have set out a $13 million grant that is directed to the International Fact-Checking Network. The goal is to launch a non-profit initiative in the name of the Global Fact Check Fund. Therefore, it would benefit the network as it entails 135 fact-checking firms arising from 65 different nations. And that covers nearly 80 different languages. The fund would be functional by next year.

The tech giants claim the entire goal here is to allow fact-checkers to understand more about scaling operations that currently exist or even launch a series of new ones that uplift information. They even uplift various sources and reduce the great harms linked to both misinformation and disinformation seen around the globe.

As mentioned previously, there are a number of benefits that publishers may end up benefiting from. For starters, this includes fact-checks conducted via independent firms on the Google Search Results page.

Next up, there are fact checks conducted on YouTube’s panels that would appear at the topmost region of search results for all sorts of questions on a particular claim. Lastly, you’re dealing with fact-check explorer searches seen among 150,000 different reliable publishers.

In addition to that, we saw the authors mention that after a certain news story breaks, a panel would appear on the results page for YouTube where certain questions can be asked and that shows which stories are developing via news sources that follow content policies linked to Google News.

Critics hope this effort should assist with periodicals and stop spreading embarrassing errors because this isn’t required. Similarly, defamatory mistakes are also being called out as having no room on these platforms.

In addition to that, we may soon witness grantees utilizing funds to add new types of technologies that expand or develop various digital footprints. It can optimize tools used for verification too and even build up the capacity to allow for better audience engagement through different means. This includes audio, podcasts, and even video.

Read next: A New Study Shows the Thoughts of Consumers When Advertisement of A Brand Is Next To A Piece Of Misinformation
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World