Google launches news initiative to support media, combat fake news
TORONTO — Google is putting fake news in its crosshairs as it rolls out a news initiative aimed at stopping the spread of misinformation and helping publishers attract more subscribers.
The technology company said Tuesday it will spend $392 million over the next three years on the initiative, which will involve prioritizing “quality” publishers, making it easier to subscribe to news publications and educating readers on how to spot misleading reports.
The announcement comes just as Google, Facebook and Twitter are facing criticism for providing a platform for false information to spread, potentially impacting the last U.S. election that saw Donald Trump elected as president.
“We always haven’t gotten it right,” the company’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler admitted to a crowd of journalists in New York and many more watching via livestream at Google offices around the world, including one in Toronto, on Tuesday.