- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Google Fact-Checking Tool Reminiscent of Censorship - German Media Activist

© AP Photo / Marcio Jose SanchezGoogle headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. 2013
Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. 2013 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Google's newly introduced fact-checking feature may lead to the blocking of a "half of mainstream media," and is reminiscent of censorship, German media activist Maren Mueller told Sputnik Monday.

Google - Sputnik International
World
Why Isn't "Idlib Chemical Attack" Fake News? Google Fact-Checking May Serve MSM
MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Friday, Google said in an official blog post that the company has launched a new feature, to be available worldwide, in which results of searches and news would be integrated with information from various fact-checking websites, ultimately determining whether the information is considered true or false.

"If Google seriously makes such a suggestion, then attention should be paid to the mainstream media. If fact checking is conducted properly, then probably half of the mainstream media will be closed… Who decides what is truth? This entire story is moving in the direction of media censorship," Mueller, who has been identifying fake news on public broadcasters and filing relevant complaints for years, said.

She added that the Fact Checking Initiative had no future and offered to establish a media testing foundation.

"The idea is to establish a media testing foundation… It would be possible to assign a quality mark to those media outlets that cover the events truthfully, rather than follow the dominant narrative of the government or NATO allies," Mueller concluded.

According to Google, the new feature was introduced as a part of its efforts to help combat the spread of misinformation and fake news. Fact checks would not be provided by the company itself and would instead use fact-checking findings from such web sources as PolitiFact and Snopes. According to the company's blog, the international fact-checking community currently consists of 115 organizations.

Never miss a story again — sign up to our Telegram channel and we'll keep you up to speed!

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала