WASHINGTON (AP) — People are thirsty for accurate, reliable information online and probably just need help finding it, according to a new project on news consumption launched by Microsoft.
The tech company worked with the Trust Project, a nonprofit consortium of news organizations, to create ads informing Internet users of eight “trust indicators” that can be used to assess a website’s credibility. Indicators include clear marking of opinion pieces, a code of conduct, and source attribution.
Most of those who viewed the list expressed greater confidence in their ability to find accurate information and avoid misinformation, a promising finding that suggests journalistic insight could be a low-cost, scalable solution to the complex problem of misinformation.
“This was a bit of an experiment for us,” said Ginny Badanes, director of the Democracy Forward Initiative, a Microsoft initiative to strengthen democracy and online journalism. “The world is changing very quickly and people need tools to be well equipped.”
There is a lot at risk. Disinformation on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube is seen as leading to political polarization, mistrust of democratic institutions, vaccine resistance, unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud, and violent extremism.
The speed and power of the internet could make fighting misinformation seem impossible. Truth assessments of journalistic content help, but they require a lot of effort, are not read by everyone, and will not convince those who already distrust traditional journalism. The filters applied by technology companies are often inconsistent and only push disinformation into other channels, leading to allegations of bias and censorship. Efforts to regulate the internet are extremely difficult politically and legally.
Efforts to promote critical thinking and journalistic understanding, however, have shown remarkable success in helping people learn to spot misinformation. Google launched a series of YouTube videos in Eastern Europe last year to teach people how misinformation works; recently, the campaign was extended to Germany.
