Google on Friday announced its support for a consortium of news publishers and fact checkers called Shakti, to help the early detection of online misinformation like deepfakes, and to create a common repository that news publishers can use to tackle misinformation.
“As India prepares for its general elections, we recognise the essential role of news publishers, journalists, and fact-checkers in helping people access trustworthy information they need for informed participation,” said Google India.
Shakti is a pan-India network driven by DataLEADS, in collaboration with the Misinformation Combat Alliance, The Quint, VishvasNews, Boom, Factly, and Newschecker, with support from the Google News Initiative.
From today till the conclusion of the general elections, the project will connect 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, said Google India.
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Fact-checks in multiple Indian languages and formats, including videos, will be shared and amplified via partnering news publishers.
In addition, the project will provide news organizations and fact-checkers essential training in advanced fact-checking methodologies, deepfake detection, and the latest Google tools like the Fact Check Explorer.
The fact-checking collective will continue to prioritize publishers producing original news in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi.
Published - March 01, 2024 04:49 pm IST
