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Google will soon ban fake news sites

March 21, 2017 | Expert Insights

On 21-3- 2017, Google announced that its advertising tools will soon be closed to websites that promote fake news, a policy that could cut off revenue streams for publications that peddle hoaxes on platforms like Facebook. The decision comes at a critical time for the tech industry, whose key players have come under fire for not taking necessary steps to prevent fake news from proliferating across the web during the 2016 US election. It’s thought that, given the viral aspects of fake news, social networks and search engines were gamed by partisan bad actors intending to influence the outcome of the race.

Fake News

The issue of fake news on social media grabbed national attention earlier this summer, when Gizmodo reported that the team at Facebook responsible for its Trending Topics news list was suppressing links from conservative sources. The controversy called into question Facebook’s role as a primary source of news for tens of millions of Americans. The episode reportedly “paralyzed” Facebook, according to a recent report from The New York Times, leaving its leadership unwilling to make any drastic changes to the News Feed to curb the viral growth of fake news.

Analysis

  • Facebook had developed a tool to identify fake news on its platform, but chose not to deploy it for fear it would disproportionately affect conservative websites and cause more right-wing backlash.
  • Mark Zuckerberg has denied his company’s role in influencing the election, calling the idea “crazy” and downplaying yet again the characterization of Facebook as a media company.

Assessment

Google is taking a more active role, last week a fake news link rose to the top of Google search results for the question “who won the popular vote,” falsely claiming the answer to be President-elect Donald Trump. Such an action must be taken to completely curb the fake news. And make media more authentic. 

Source: Reuters