Google earmarks $6.5 million to fight misinformation on coronavirus

To address the coronavirus pandemic, Google is providing $6.5 million in funding to fact-checkers and non-profit organisations fighting misinformation across the global.

Through its Google News Initiative (GNI), the search engine would be supporting Africa Check in Nigeria, and Data Leads in partnership with BOOM Live in India to leverage data from Question Hub. The effort is to see to the training of 1,000 journalists across India and Nigeria to spot health misinformation.

Google’s online resources are being updated to support the vital work of media personnel, as the GNI Training Centre has tools for data journalism and verification in 16 languages, with a global team of teaching fellows delivering workshops entirely online in 10 languages.

News and Information Credibility Lead, Google News Initiative News Lab, Alexios Mantzarlis, said: “Health authorities have warned that an over-abundance of information can make it harder for people to obtain reliable guidance about the coronavirus pandemic. Helping the world make sense of this information requires a broad response involving scientists, journalists, public figures, technology platforms and many others.”

Some other media outlets and non-profit establishments globally which would receive support through the GNI include First Draft, an online resource hub; and Full Fact and Maldita.es to coordinate efforts in Europe.