In a bid to weed out misinformation tech giant Google has introduced fact-check label for some image searches. It provides a few lines of context with select searches, drawing on services provided by third-party fact-checkers.
This measure to fight disinformation spread through the use of images builds on Google’s fact check features in Search and News.
“When you tap one of these results to view the image in a larger format, you’ll see a summary of the fact check that appears on the underlying web page,” Harris Cohen, Google’s Group Product Manager for Search wrote in a blog post on Monday.
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The tool is powered by publishers themselves, who can now opt to tag images that have been fact-checked using ClaimReview, a method for publishers to communicate to search engines that an image has been verified.
YouTube also leverages ClaimReview to surface fact check information panels in Brazil, India and the US.
Harris Cohen further said, “Photos and videos are an incredible way to help people understand what’s going on in the world,”
He added, “But the power of visual media has its pitfalls — especially when there are questions surrounding the origin, authenticity or context of an image.”
Fact check labels appear on results that come from independent, authoritative sources on the web that meet our criteria.
“Just as is the case in Search, adding this label in Google Images results does not affect ranking; our systems are designed to surface the most relevant, reliable information available, including from sources that provide fact checks,” Cohen said.
To recognise the important work being done by fact-checkers during the ongoing pandemic, the Google News Initiative provided $6.5 million in funding support to organisations around the globe earlier this year.
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