Fact-checking organizations and media outlets have been fighting the spread of fake news for several years now, partnering with digital giants to track down false information. These initiatives have been strengthened during the covid-19 crisis.
Facebook pays around sixty media outlets for the use of their “fact checks” on its platform and on Instagram, as part of the “Third party fact-checking” program (launched in December 2016). During the month of March, WhatsApp partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO), while 40 million Facebook posts received a “warning label” , pushing users not to consult this content in 95% of cases.
NewsGuard, meanwhile, has stepped up its fight against disinformation and recruited tens of millions of students to help fact-check for citizens. In France, the government's anti-fake news site has caused some controversy, as it redirected citizens to only five media outlets deemed reliable.
In the time of covid-19, fact-checking initiatives are multiplying. Journalists remain in the best position to tackle the subject. Journalistes Solidaires is an example of collaborative journalism whose development will be interesting to follow over the coming months. The communication urgency that the Covid-19 crisis has caused suggests that the bc data fight against the spread of fake news will be one of the major technological battles of the coming decade.The Tiger, Fear and Information
journalism
May 15, 2020
Reading time: 8 min
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Times of pandemic are times of fear. With Covid-19, exclusively covered in many editions in France as in the rest of the world, public anxiety has reached a peak. And the information is more than ever confronted with one of the most frequently leveled criticisms against it, the anxiety-provoking nature of images and stories. All this against a backdrop of well-known distrust. Yet at the same time, the demand for information has never been greater.
By the grace of a presidential speech, a virus has become a tiger. The recommendation, – in a Chinese tone – is to ride it, to better control it. These were the words of Emmanuel Macron to reveal his Covid-19 action plan to cultural actors. He added: “… fear will be there in society, it will not disappear.. .”