<p>Google on Thursday said it is pumping $6.5 million into fact-checkers and nonprofits as it ramps up its the battle against coronavirus misinformation.</p>.<p>Fact-checking organizations, which often operate on relatively small budgets, are seeing a surge in demand for their work as mistaken or maliciously false information about the pandemic spreads, according to Alexios Mantzarlis of the Google News Lab.</p>.<p>"Uncertainty and fear make us all more susceptible to inaccurate information, so we're supporting fact-checkers as they address heightened demand for their work," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>A Poynter Institute report last year on the state of fact-checking indicated that more than a fifth of fact-checking organizations operated with annual budgets of less than $20,000.</p>.<p>"We are supporting fact checking projects around the world with a concentration on parts hardest hit by the pandemic," Mantzarlis told AFP.</p>.<p>"This can be a noticeable infusion of additional support at a time of stress."</p>.<p>Google is also looking to use its products and "ecosystem" to bolster the battle against COVID-19 misinformation.</p>.<p>The Google News Initiative is increasing its support for nonprofit First Draft, which provides a resource hub, training and crisis simulations for journalists covering news during times of crisis, according to Mantzarlis.</p>.<p>Google is also supporting the creation of a public health resource database for reporters.</p>.<p>"We also want to do more to surface fact-checks that address potentially harmful health misinformation more prominently to our users," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>"We're experimenting with how to best include a dedicated fact-check section in the COVID-19 Google News experience."</p>.<p>Google is conducting a test in India and Africa to explore how to use trends in what people are asking or searching for online to let fact-checkers know where a lack of reliable answers may invite misinformation.</p>.<p>"Unanswered user questions -- such as 'what temperature kills coronavirus?' -- can provide useful insights to fact-checkers and health authorities about content they may want to produce," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>That test compliments an effort to train 1,000 journalists across India and Nigeria to spot health misinformation, according to the California-based internet titan.</p>.<p>"There is definitely an appetite for this stuff," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>"We grasp for certainty, a glimmer of something we can do to protect ourselves and those we care about. It makes us more vulnerable to this kind of misinformation."</p>.<p>Facebook has also supported fact-checking operations with AFP and other media companies, including Reuters and the Associated Press, under which content rated false is downgraded in news feeds so that fewer people see it.</p>
<p>Google on Thursday said it is pumping $6.5 million into fact-checkers and nonprofits as it ramps up its the battle against coronavirus misinformation.</p>.<p>Fact-checking organizations, which often operate on relatively small budgets, are seeing a surge in demand for their work as mistaken or maliciously false information about the pandemic spreads, according to Alexios Mantzarlis of the Google News Lab.</p>.<p>"Uncertainty and fear make us all more susceptible to inaccurate information, so we're supporting fact-checkers as they address heightened demand for their work," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>A Poynter Institute report last year on the state of fact-checking indicated that more than a fifth of fact-checking organizations operated with annual budgets of less than $20,000.</p>.<p>"We are supporting fact checking projects around the world with a concentration on parts hardest hit by the pandemic," Mantzarlis told AFP.</p>.<p>"This can be a noticeable infusion of additional support at a time of stress."</p>.<p>Google is also looking to use its products and "ecosystem" to bolster the battle against COVID-19 misinformation.</p>.<p>The Google News Initiative is increasing its support for nonprofit First Draft, which provides a resource hub, training and crisis simulations for journalists covering news during times of crisis, according to Mantzarlis.</p>.<p>Google is also supporting the creation of a public health resource database for reporters.</p>.<p>"We also want to do more to surface fact-checks that address potentially harmful health misinformation more prominently to our users," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>"We're experimenting with how to best include a dedicated fact-check section in the COVID-19 Google News experience."</p>.<p>Google is conducting a test in India and Africa to explore how to use trends in what people are asking or searching for online to let fact-checkers know where a lack of reliable answers may invite misinformation.</p>.<p>"Unanswered user questions -- such as 'what temperature kills coronavirus?' -- can provide useful insights to fact-checkers and health authorities about content they may want to produce," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>That test compliments an effort to train 1,000 journalists across India and Nigeria to spot health misinformation, according to the California-based internet titan.</p>.<p>"There is definitely an appetite for this stuff," Mantzarlis said.</p>.<p>"We grasp for certainty, a glimmer of something we can do to protect ourselves and those we care about. It makes us more vulnerable to this kind of misinformation."</p>.<p>Facebook has also supported fact-checking operations with AFP and other media companies, including Reuters and the Associated Press, under which content rated false is downgraded in news feeds so that fewer people see it.</p>