Google and YouTube are spending almost RM59 million to counter misinformation online

Google, along with its video platform YouTube are undoubtedly some of the biggest websites out there, with billions of people everyday using Google and YouTube to get their information. However, it’s also unfortunately been a hotbed for misinformation and fake news.

Google and YouTube knows this of course; the former even revealed that more people than ever were looking up the topic of misinformation last month according to their Google Trends data. As such, the two giants have announced a USD 13.2 million (RM58.9 million) grant to the International Fact-Checking Network to launch a new Global Fact Check Fund, which in turn will support a network of 135 fact-checking organisations across 65 countries, covering over 80 languages.

“The Global Fact Check Fund will help fact-checkers to scale existing operations or launch new ones that elevate information, uplift credible sources and reduce the harm of mis- and disinformation around the globe,” – Olivia Ma, Managing Director of Global News Programs and Ecosystem at Google and Brandon Feldman, Director of News and Civics Partnerships at YouTube

Google and YouTube added that the Global Fact Check Fund will begin in early of next year. Fact-checking groups will be able to use the fund to incorporate new technologies, optimise their verification tools, create and expand digital footprints as well as increase their ability to drive audience engagement. This is the single largest grant given by Google and YouTube for fact-checking and is their latest step in fighting misinformation.

In the meantime, Google and YouTube note that they’ve already added in plenty of fact-check features on Google Search, Google News and YouTube as a simple way of getting information from independent fact-checking groups. These include fact check tools on YouTube, Google News and Google Search, as well as a Fact Check Explorer which searches through around 150,000 fact checks from different publishers across various topics.

When you search for something on Google, you might’ve seen an ‘About this result panel’ too, which lets you see additional context regarding a search result even before you visit the web page. You may also find a breaking news panel in YouTube search results following a major news event as a way to show you more information regarding developing news stories from sources that follow Google News’ content policies.