Google has announced a new weapon in the war against fake news.
The internet search giant unveiled a new feature that will allow fact-checking to appear right in the search results.
Some exciting news from Google. Fact-checking will be part of your search results. https://t.co/u4E4xbGvF9 pic.twitter.com/3iMObtmx44
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) April 7, 2017
“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 announced in a post on Friday. “The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim.”
The fact-checking will be left to third parties like PolitiFact and Snopes, with more than 100 organizations including The Associated Press, the BBC, The Washington Post and The New York Times signed up as part of the “fact-check community.”
That fact alone raised eyebrows on Twitter.
This is the organization @Google will be using to check “political facts” henceforth. This not a joke. Ladies and gentlemen, meet @snopes: pic.twitter.com/Bf5VRKRd1i
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 7, 2017
The biggest #FakeNews Sites on the planet #CNN #BBC #Google adds search results ‘fact check’ flag https://t.co/LhxaA8nrPW
— BarronaK^ (@Barronak) April 8, 2017
@APBusiness @AP @Google oh nice. Nothing like going even deeper to push agenda vs. encouraging critical thinkers. Sorry, intelligent people won’t drink the koolaid
— PW (@PWorld1408) April 7, 2017
“This information won’t be available for every search result, and there may be search result pages where different publishers checked the same claim and reached different conclusions,” Google noted.
“These fact checks are not Google’s and are presented so people can make more informed judgments,” Google 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.”
Publishers will be able to add notes like “true,” or “mostly false,” next to the checked stories but Google search algorithms will determine which ones will appear.
Google is joining many other media outlets and organizations to combat the spread of false information on the internet, a problem that has made headlines since the 2016 election season.
While some social media users welcomed the news, others were wary of what seemed like an Orwellian control of the facts.
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Huge news from Google — fact checks will now be highlighted in searches. https://t.co/HkIn3GeCNM
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) April 7, 2017
[CNET] Google fights fake news in search with ‘fact check’ tags – CNET https://t.co/ZVoBGVpx7V
— David Papp (@DavidPapp) April 8, 2017
Great move by a great company #google to soon introduce “Fact Check” tag for article authentication
— Safir (@safiranand) April 8, 2017
It’s officially Orwell’s 1984 – We now have a ‘Ministry of Truth.” Google Launches “Fact Checker” https://t.co/hjkbQsNCfg
— Morpheus (@RedPillingYou) April 8, 2017
@BreitbartNews Which begs the question: When will somebody fact check Google??
— Christopher G. Adamo (@CGAdamo) April 8, 2017
@Forbes Ridiculous. I’ll use free thought to determine what is true. Algorithms telling you what’s real is lazy and stupid.
— Adam Ross (@raross99) April 7, 2017
@PolitiFact Who is fact checking the biased fact checkers?
— Kurtis Marsh (@kurtismarsh) April 7, 2017
@PolitiFact Not creepy at all.
— Helsingor (@Helsingor) April 7, 2017
@PolitiFact That will be awesome! pic.twitter.com/xc5CeD7pZv
— Jeff G (@powercatjeffy71) April 8, 2017
@GlennKesslerWP @brianstelter I’m staying buoyed by noting the good changes coming out of our recent terrifying, Orwellian freefall. This is one.
— AtuVava (@AtuVava) April 7, 2017
@GlennKesslerWP How do I know google tells the truth? I’ll pass if they “fact check” like the @washingtonpost.
— Susan k (@Suluc98) April 8, 2017
@BreitbartNews as an option this is fine but I am frustrated with Google pushing articles I didn’t want and burying the stuff I do. Google is pushing bias
— Connie Fridley (RP) (@1Craftikittti) April 8, 2017
@PolitiFact Time to commit to Bing, I guess.
— The Truth Hurts (@FactSmacker) April 8, 2017
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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