Google takes initiative to curb misinformation, fake news
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WASHINGTON: (APP) Google is adding a fact-checking tag to search results globally, its latest initiative to help curb the spread of misinformation and "fake news," the company said Friday.
The new tags, to be used in all languages for users worldwide, will use third-party fact-checkers to indicate whether news items are true, false or somewhere in-between.
"For the first time, when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page," Google said in a blog post.
"The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim."
The information won't be available for every search result, and there may be conflicting conclusions in some cases, Google said in the blog post, from researcher Cong Yu and Justin Kosslyn of Google's sister company Jigsaw.
"These fact checks are not Google's and are presented so people can make more informed judgments," it said.
"Even though differing conclusions may be presented, we think it's still helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree."
