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posted by mrpg on Monday December 18 2017, @06:32PM   Printer-friendly
from the dont-believe-anything-on-the-web dept.

Google has made some changes to try and tackle "fake news":

Google moved to strip from its news search results publications that mask their country of origin or intentionally mislead readers, a further step to curb the spread of fake news that has plagued internet companies this year.

To appear in Google News results, websites must meet broad criteria set out by the company, including accurately representing their owners or primary purposes. In an update to its guidelines released Friday, the search giant added language stipulating that publications not "engage in coordinated activity to mislead users." Additionally the new rules read: "This includes, but isn't limited to, sites that misrepresent or conceal their country of origin or are directed at users in another country under false premises."

A popular tactic for misinformation campaigns is to pose as a credible U.S. news outlet. Russian Internet Research Agency, a Kremlin-backed organization, used that technique to reach an audience of nearly 500,000 people, spread primarily through Twitter accounts, Bloomberg reported earlier.

Also at Engadget.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Monday December 18 2017, @08:31PM (4 children)

    by DeathMonkey (1380) on Monday December 18 2017, @08:31PM (#611557) Journal

    Perhaps because they're all Opinion/Editorial organizations and not NEWS organizations?

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @09:48PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @09:48PM (#611587)

    What NEWS organizations do you suggest that aren't giant corporate behemoths?

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @12:26AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @12:26AM (#611655)

      NPR? They're such a giant corporate behemoth that they literally have to beg for money every quarter or so. I know, I know, that's their member stations that are asking you, but really, in the end, that money goes [largely] to NPR and so in essence, it is them that are asking you for money. Let's not get on our pedant-horse here...
      Clearly, they're not doing Corporate Behemothing right because they're asking the people for hand-outs, instead of what the Big Boys do, and that is asking Uncle Sam for money.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @04:55AM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @04:55AM (#611712)

        Are you serious?

        NPR not asking Uncle Sam for money?

        Poor, broke, shivering-in-the-cold NPR? So broke that they have to pad their thrice-turned coat with wads of greenbacks ... wait a minute.

        NPR's sitting quite pretty, by the standards of modern media companies. And they still get to whine to Congress about how important it is that they not go broke because ... some reason. And beg for more - oh wait, they're not begging from Uncle Sam, that's right.

        Except when they are.

        By the same token, Google gets to pick winners and losers because of some handwaving around public morality.

        Google? Public morality? Google "yeah, OK we're pretty evil" Inc.? Oh, sorry, Alphabet ...

        Sorry, I must have lost the thread of where you were going, what with all the insanity on plain display. Please, do continue.