Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, tech major Google has partnered with fact-checkers and news publishers to curb the spread of misinformation, including deepfakes.
In a blog post, Google said as part of its commitment to enable the news ecosystem to combat misinformation, it will support ‘Shakti, India Election Fact-Checking Collective’ – a consortium of news publishers and fact checkers in India, working together to combat deepfakes and to create a common repository that news publishers can use to tackle the challenges of misinformation at scale.
Shakti, a pan-India network, will be led by DataLEADS, in collaboration with the Misinformation Combat Alliance, The Quint, VishvasNews, Boom, Factly, and Newschecker, with support from the Google News Initiative.
The blog post added, Starting today until the conclusion of the general elections in India, the project will focus on connecting independent fact checkers and Indian language publishers, giving them a collaborative platform to share fact checks, research resources and alerts on elections-related viral misinformation and deepfakes, saving crucial time.
Fact-checks in various Indian languages and formats, including videos, will be shared and amplified through collaborating news publishers to reach a broader range of language users and diverse audiences across the country.
Additionally, the project will offer essential training to news organisations and fact-checkers in advanced fact-checking methodologies, deepfake detection, and the latest Google tools, such as the Fact Check Explorer, to streamline verification processes.
With this launch, the Fact-Checking Collective will continue to onboard new partners and scale the effort to reach most parts of the country.
Syed Nazakat, founder and CEO, DataLEADS, said, Amid a complex information landscape, with the elections round the corner, the Collective is a crucial intervention towards building a robust fact-checking ecosystem to safeguard the democratic processes.
Bharat Gupta, president, Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA), and CEO, Jagran New Media, said, MCA’s fact-checking members aim to debilitate and disarm the agents of disinformation by using a combination of high-integrity journalism and useful technologies against emerging threats to democracy.
Ritu Kapur, cofounder and managing director, The Quint: The only way to combat the malaise is to join forces as fact checkers and news publishers. Not just to fact check that which has gone viral, but to prebunk and inoculate the same digital highways that spread fake information, with media literacy and relevant information.
This Fact-Checking Collective aligns with Google’s ongoing initiatives like the GNI India Training Network, PollCheck, Data Accelerator, and Data Dialogue. Since 2018, these efforts have supported the training of over 65,000 journalists, media educators, and journalism students in 15+ languages, equipping them with digital tools and skills to find, verify, and present engaging stories while addressing the evolving risk of misinformation.
Additionally, Google and YouTube launched the $13.2 Mn Global Fact Check Fund to strengthen fact-checking organisations globally, including those in India, enhancing their capabilities in producing high-quality, impactful fact-checking content.
This comes at a time when Indian startup founders are crying foul as Google Play began delisting prominent apps from its Android app store on March 1. The delisting was prompted by these apps violating Google Play’s user choice billing system.
Several apps have already been delisted, including Info Edge-owned Naukri and 99acres, Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com, Truly Madly, STAGE, ALTT, Kuku FM, and QuackQuack.
