Google teams up with publishers, fact-checkers for election integrity.
The ‘Shakti‘ project, led by DataLEADS and in partnership with the Misinformation Combat Alliance and various fact-checkers, receives support from the Google News Initiative (GNI) to combat misinformation during the elections in India.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, Google has decided to help the ‘Shakti, India Election Fact-Checking Collective’. This collective includes news publishers and fact-checkers in India. The aim is to stop the spread of deepfakes, which are fake videos or images.
This project will focus on connecting independent fact-checkers with Indian language publishers. They will work together on a platform to share fact checks, research materials, and alerts about fake news and deepfakes related to elections.
Google mentioned that fact-checks in many Indian languages, including videos, will be shared through news publishers. This way, they can reach a larger audience across the country, especially people who speak different languages.
The ‘Shakti’ project will be led by DataLEADS, along with the Misinformation Combat Alliance and other fact-checkers. Google News Initiative (GNI) will also support this project.
In this project, news organizations and fact-checkers will get training in advanced fact-checking methods and deepfake detection. They will also learn to use tools like the Fact Check Explorer from Google.
Google’s focus is on news publishers who create original news in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, and Marathi languages. This means they want to make sure people get correct information in these languages.
According to Bharat Gupta, President of the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), in today’s digital world where information spreads quickly, it’s crucial to give people trustworthy and reliable news.
Google also mentioned that since 2018, they have trained over 65,000 journalists, media educators, and students in more than 15 languages around the world. They want to equip them with digital tools and skills to find and share stories while fighting against fake news.
The goal of this project is to make sure that during the elections, people get accurate and reliable information. It also aims to help journalists and fact-checkers in identifying and stopping the spread of fake news and deepfakes, which can mislead the public.