Topline
Amid ongoing efforts by Google to counter misinformation and conspiracy theories about coronavirus pandemic, the tech giant said Tuesday it will raise up to $ 3 million to support intelligence research initiatives to against misinformation, which he says has emerged as particularly troubling when global vaccination efforts are underway.
Google is funding intelligence analysis campaigns to address Covid-19 vaccine misinformation.
getty
Key facts
The Covid-19 Vaccine Misinformation Open Fund intends to support “journalism projects aimed at expanding the audience of fact-studies,” particularly in audiences “under the influence of information misinformation. wrong, ”the tech giant mentioned in a blog post.
Google said that while the Covid-19 infodemic has been “global in nature, misinformation has also been used to target specific numbers,” adding that these numbers are not the ones looking for intelligence studies. .
Global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines “exacerbates the misinformation of vaccines,” Google said, explaining that the fund will “support further debunking efforts” to contribute to existing efforts to address coronavirus misinformation.
Applications are evaluated by a team of 14 “Googlers” from around the world and are open to news organizations of all sizes “with a proven track record in information analysis and debunking activities” or those in partnership with such an organization.
Key background
As the largest online search engine, Google is a key gateway to information on coronavirus pandemic, vaccines and treatment. Google and YouTube, both owned by parent company Alphabet, have struggled to control the growing amount of misinformation on their platforms, much of which is happen with deceptions related to the US election and conspiracy theories like QAnon, which posts that Donald Trump is fighting a secret war against a global pedophile ring of Democrats, celebrities and billionaires who worship him Satan. While Google and YouTube have made efforts to address this misconception through information analysis, content modeling and policy changes – organizations that are peddling lies related to pandemics and misinformation have continued to thrive and even achieving “operational capability and financial success” using Google and their vast advertising network, according to a study from the Oxford Internet Institute.
Further reading
Examining the most convincing COVID-19 conspiracy theories (King’s College London)
Failing action. How technical giants continue to refuse calls to misinterpret vaccines (Center for the Anti-Digital Hate)
Google launches $ 3 million fund to fight misinformation (Reuters)
Obama, Bush and Clinton get Covid-19 vaccine on camera to boost public confidence while Trump remains silent (Forbes)
Open fund for projects that eradicate vaccine misinformation (Google)
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