Coronavirus | Major news publishers, platforms get together to tackle misinformation

Partners within the BBC’s global Trusted News Initiative include The Hindu, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Facebook, Google/YouTube and Twitter.

Broadcasting House, the BBC headquarters in London on January 29, 2020. Photo: Peter Summers/Getty Images

The BBC’s global Trusted News Initiative, in which The Hindu is a partner, will be extending its efforts to identifying false and potentially harmful information on the coronavirus pandemic . The initiative will have in place a system in which partners will be able to alert each other to disinformation about coronavirus. This will enable partner platforms such as Facebook and Google to review promptly and the publishers in the network can ensure that the information is not republished.

The Trusted News Initiative in which the BBC partners with other leading global news and technology organisations, was announced in June 2019.

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Partners in the initiative will also flag content that undermines trust in partner news providers by identifying imposter content claiming to come from trusted brands.

The partners within the TNI are: BBC, Facebook, Google/YouTube, Twitter, Microsoft, AFP, Reuters, European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Financial Times , The Wall Street Journal , The Hindu , CBC/Radio-Canada, First Draft, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

“The BBC and all our partners feel an urgent sense of responsibility to give everybody the very best, most accurate information, we can during this time of crisis. It’s vital that we all have access to the facts so we know how to protect ourselves, our friends and families,” said Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC.

“These are challenging times for each and every one of us. We’ll do everything we can, working together, to stop disinformation about coronavirus in its tracks,” Mr. Hall added.