Google introduces fact check tool to combat fake news

Google has announced that it would be introducing a “fact check” tool on its search engine to help users combat recognise fake news.

In a post on its blog on Friday, Google said the label identifies articles that include information fact checked by news publishers and fact-checking organisations.

“For the first time, when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page,” the blog post read.

“The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim.”

Google says it may ignore a website’s markup if the fact check claim does not meet its standards.

“For publishers to be included in this feature, they must be using the Schema.org ClaimReview markup on the specific pages where they fact check public statements or they can use the Share the Facts widget developed by the Duke University Reporters Lab and Jigsaw.

“Only publishers that are algorithmically determined to be an authoritative source of information will qualify for inclusion.

“Finally, the content must adhere to the general policies that apply to all structured data markup, the Google News Publisher criteria for fact checks, and the standards for accountability and transparency, readability or proper site representation as articulated in our Google News General Guidelines.

“If a publisher or fact check claim does not meet these standards or honor these policies, we may, at our discretion, ignore that site’s markup.”