Entering any search engine on the internet is very simple, and finding information on any topic is also very simple. However, this facility has generated confidence in almost all Internet users, eliminating the routine and responsibility of verifying data.
In this sense, TechMarkup found out how Google, one of the most used search engines in the world, curates content to avoid lies.
Currently, the technology multinational has at hand a group of specialists in charge of verifying the data and teach others how to avoid falling for fake news.
The main importance of verifiers is combat disinformation since currently erroneous data spreads rapidly on social networks and other internet platforms. This situation can be dangerous in cases such as the pandemic or Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which is why it is necessary for everyone to have access to truthful and accurate information.
In that sense, data verification is a key point to be able to trust the information that is presented in different media and combat the infodemic (abundance of information) in this digitized world.
Unfortunately there have been several fake news that have dispersed in hours. According to an analysis by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) during the pandemic, more than half of the population did not have the ability to recognize fake news.
“It is imperative to train the population in general so that they are capable of evaluating the quality and veracity of the information that circulates in digital channels and become aware of the implications What do you have for public health? the spread of false content”, said PAHO after analyzing the spread of false news during the first months of the pandemic in six Latin American countries.
Although this only includes regions and a certain period of time, there have been examples of fake news taking hold quickly on the Internet. Fortunately, there have been people who are in charge of verifying and confirming the origin of the information.
These verifiers or fact checkers They are usually part of organizations, whose objective is to check that an image, data or video is real and not a montage. However, to do so they require training and tools.
In this stage Google seeks to contribute to the training of verifiers by providing specialization courses and encouraging this network to grow exponentially in the region.
Milena Rosenzvit, coordinator of the Chequeado Education Program, a data verification group in Argentina that is working hand in hand with Google, told TechMarkup that said courses are mainly focused on journalists and teachers who can train others.
“The idea of this network is not us directly training journalists, but train journalists and teachers so that they can teach you fact checking to others and thus generate a multiplier effect“, he pointed.
The construction of this network of verifiers is taking place in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Peru through a program that will last 3 to 4 months, where knowledge will be promoted among those interested with training in journalism or who are university students in the area.
“We can continue building and multiplying the impact [de los verificadores] because the essential idea of this project is have 500 new fact checkers in the region, which is huge. It also implies a new model of training people who can train. To train trainers”, he pointed out John Manuel Luceroleader of News Lab in Google to TechMarkup.
assured that education is an essential part not only so that there are new verifiers, but also in terms of media literacy, since “there are many things to do, that is, to contribute so that citizens can have this more critical access to information and that the information they receive also be of more and better quality”.
A tool for people to review information that could be extraordinary is Fact Checker Explorer and soon Google will have Featured Stories on mobile devices to give more visibility to original and quality content.
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