We can curb fake news with help of Google Tools
Day-long workshop held by Google News Initiative and MCU
Bhopal, 17th March, 2019: Fake and misleading news can be prevented on social media with the help of technology and basic principles of journalism. Many online tools are available on Google platform, which can help in curbing this trend. We need to be more aware in this regard. Particularly, journalists working in newsrooms can contribute more in preventing this.
Key speakers said this today in a day-long workshop, organised by Google News Initiative and Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal. In different sessions, Google Teaching Lab fellow Geetika Rustagi said, today, 250 million people watch content on Youtube every month and this figure will double by 2020. Around 60 percent of the people watching content on Youtube belong to small towns and rest 40 percent are from six large cities. Events are being broadcast in live streaming. In case of doubt, people can mark flag on videos so that Google can review and audit them. She shared tips on digital security, safety for digital accounts, tools being used in newsroom and fact checking.
Rama Solanki of Google News Initiative spoke on online verification system for checking fake and misleading news. She imparted training on how to curb fake news, using online tools and social audit for verification. She said that most of the fake news carries satire, parody, misleading, imposter, fabricated, false or manipulated content. It must be checked before forwarding. Several tools like Google reverse image, Invid can be used for cross checking photo and video content. In the beginning, Dr Anurag Seetha, professor of Computer Application Department, delivered welcome speech and shed light on objectives of the workshop. Vice-Chancellor Shri Deepak Tiwari was also present there. Around 160 journalists and students of Bhopal and other cities attended the programme.
