New Delhi: Google has revealed a collaborative effort with fact-checking organisations aimed at early identification and mitigation of online misinformation, including deepfakes, in anticipation of India’s upcoming general elections. The initiative seeks to establish a shared repository accessible to news publishers throughout the electoral process.
Announced via a blog post, Google emphasised its commitment to empowering the news ecosystem in its fight against misinformation. The tech giant pledged support to Shakti, the India Election Fact-Checking Collective, comprising various news publishers and fact-checkers across the country. Together, they aim to detect and counter online falsehoods, including deepfakes, in a timely manner.
The project, effective immediately until the conclusion of the General Elections, will facilitate the connection between independent fact-checkers and Indian language publishers. This collaborative platform will enable the sharing of fact checks, research resources, and alerts on viral misinformation related to the elections, ultimately saving crucial time.
Fact-checks will be conducted in multiple Indian languages and formats, including videos, and will be disseminated through partnering news publishers to reach a diverse audience across the nation. Additionally, Google will work alongside fact-checkers to develop a common repository accessible to news publishers, streamlining the process of addressing misinformation on a large scale.
The Shakti initiative, a nationwide network led by DataLEADS in collaboration with the Misinformation Combat Alliance, Boom, Factly, and Newschecker, is supported by the Google News Initiative. Moreover, the project will offer essential training to news organisations and fact-checkers in advanced fact-checking methodologies and deepfake detection, utilising tools such as the Fact Check Explorer.
Google underscored its commitment to supporting publishers producing original news in various Indian languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, and Marathi.
Acknowledging the pivotal role of news publishers, journalists, and fact-checkers in facilitating informed participation in elections, Google reaffirmed its commitment to combating misinformation through initiatives like the Shakti project.
The Fact Checking Collective in India builds upon Google’s existing efforts, such as the GNI India Training Network, PollCheck, Data Accelerator, and Data Dialogue, which have collectively trained over 65,000 journalists, media educators, and journalism students in multiple languages since 2018.
