Facebook, Google working together to avoid another 'fake news' election disaster. ...Well, another pivotal election. Facebook and Google, along with newsrooms in France (including France 24, the partner for Mashable's French-language edition), are joining forces on a new project that will help verify or debunk viral information online. The French election fits nicely as a sort of "round two" for Google and Facebook, which failed to stem the rise of misinformation supporting Donald Trump before his election last November. Pepe the frog, a stoner comic book character that became an unlikely icon for white nationalism in the U.S. last year, has leaped over the Atlantic to support her, as well. So CrossCheck has its work cut out for it. According to a report in Le Monde, Facebook will also roll out a French version of a news-reporting tool that allows users to flag bogus content on the social network. Disputed content may also be ranked lower in a user's News Feed, per a Facebook update from the end of last month. President Trump has tweeted about "fake news"—often, in screaming capital letters— at least 16 times since December. It's been retweeted over 22,000 times.
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“Fake news” is the crisis du jour for online media in 2017, and now, two tech giants are working together to stop it from wrecking a pivotal election.
…Well, another pivotal election.
Facebook and Google, along with newsrooms in France (including France 24, the partner for Mashable‘s French-language edition), are joining forces on a new project that will help verify or debunk viral information online. It’s called CrossCheck, and it’ll focus on the 2017 French presidential election. The initiative, billed as “a collaborative journalism project,” was originally conceived by First Draft, a nonprofit focused on verifying information in the digital age, and Google News Lab.
The French election fits nicely as a sort of “round two” for Google and Facebook, which failed to stem the rise of misinformation supporting Donald Trump before his election last November. France is at an inflection point, with an incredibly unpopular sitting president and an ascendant candidate, Marine Le Pen, who could overthrow the incumbent with her far-right, France-first platform.
And speaking of “fake news,” Le Pen has already benefited from an organized effort to discredit her opponents with fabricated online profiles, BuzzFeed reported last month. Pepe the frog, a stoner comic book character that became an unlikely icon for white nationalism in the U.S. last year, has leaped over the Atlantic to support her, as well.
So CrossCheck has its work cut out for…
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