Google has just launched an Anti-Misinformation Project in India | Digit

An anti-misinformation project is being launched in India by Google’s Jigsaw subsidiary. The project aims to prevent the spread of high amounts of misinformation that has been blamed for inciting violence in the country. The initiative will employ ‘pre-bunking’ videos; these are videos that are designed in order to counter false and misleading claims before they go viral. These videos will be available on Google’s YouTube platform, along with other social media sites.

This effort by Google to prevent the spread of misinformation is very contrasting when compared to Twitter, as it is cutting its trust and safety teams, even though Elon Musk said that the site will not become a “free-for-all hellscape”.

What is Google’s Anti-Misinformation Project

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Google recently conducted an experiment in Europe. The goal of this experiment was to counter anti-refugee narratives that are present on the internet. But this was just the beginning. If this same experiment were to be conducted in India, it will be that much bigger in scope because of the multiple local languages in India, and with a population of over a billion people.

Jigsaw’s Head of research and development, Beth Goldman said, “This presented an opportunity to research pre-bunking in a non-western, global south market.”

The spread of misinformation is an inevitable process and like in other countries, it happens in India as well. Misinformation is spread mainly through social media in order to incite violence and create political tension. The Ministry of Information & Broadcast has repeatedly invoked “extraordinary powers” to block YouTube channels and accounts on Twitter and Facebook that spread misinformation.

Five videos in three languages have been produced by Jigsaw, in collaboration with the Alfred Landecker Foundation, a pro-democracy organization based in Germany, the philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network India, and a number of smaller partners in other regions.

According to Jigsaw, the viewers will be 5 per cent more likely to identify misinformation after watching the pre-bunking videos.

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