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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.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Bot on Monday December 18 2017, @08:34PM (2 children)
Finally, for the establishment asslicking of the day, we report that the search giant Google has dealt a decisive blow to all antagonist information sites, that is, all sites whose content is not liked by the governments of their audience.
By delisting or burying content that "masks country of origin" as their ominous newspeak PR release proclaims, they also kill all of the sites that HAD TO use a foreign provider because local providers will either not allow or report them to authorities.
This action is part of a strategy that completely disrespects their product, the user, deemed unable to distinguish and acting upon fake news and so forbidden to being exposed to independent ideas. This strategy of course is either going to fail or to lead to an orwellian society, which is probably the intended outcome.
The average user won't even notice, the people which used to be free will have to consider adopting en masse dark web tools, because getting in the same boat as pedos and terrorists and warez distributors by exchanging encrypted packets is ironically the most moral choice.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @08:47PM (1 child)
I get where you're coming from and going to, but let's be honest: many of their products/users are indeed unable to make the distinction between what is real and what is a lie or opinion. (I'm not even sure where I'd count myself in that segregation, it's hard to be well-informed and critical at all times)
You try using the intertubes while blocking any and all Google-/Facebook-related domains and tell me how that is going... add the CloudFlare AS to your blocklist as well for good measure and tell me again you're not in an Orwellian Surveillance Society.
We have had an Orwellian Total Surveillance Society for a couple of years now. These fucker see everything and anything, and not playing is not even an option anymore.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 18 2017, @09:17PM
> many of their products/users are indeed unable to make the distinction
That's where they have been led to by authorities since the dawn of communication. Now authorities act using corporations and their edicts are called ads. This is why governments and corporations are pursuing the censorship route, they have no choice. In fact they began to put censorship in place way before actual crises happened, that should give people a hint. Control is not reaction to terror, terror justifies control.
Given that fake news cannot be prevented because all parties resort to it, especially those in charge of censorship, what else do you propose other than let people decide for themselves what news item to believe? They will burn themselves? yep, but the alternative is getting enslaved.