Google launches fact-checker for images

It already has similar features for News, Search and YouTube.

Google is taking another step to call out misinformation on its platform.

The search giant said Monday that it launched a new fact-checking tool for Google Images that aims to help people and “make more informed judgments about what they see on the web.”

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“Photos and videos are an incredible way to help people understand what’s going on in the world. But the power of visual media has its pitfalls⁠—especially when there are questions surrounding the origin, authenticity or context of an image,” Google said in the statement.

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The feature, which went into effect June 22, will alert users when they see an image that has been verified. A fact-check label could appear under thumbnail on some results that users can click to see a summary of the fact check that appears on the underlying web page. The labels, Google said, appear on results from independent, authoritative sources that meet its criteria.

Google previously implemented similar features for its News, Search and YouTube verticals.

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Google Images.

As news around the economy, election and coronavirus ramp up, social media platform Twitter, using its own fact-checking measures, labeled one of President Donald Trump’s tweets of an apparently edited version of a viral clip of two toddlers running to greet each other as “manipulated media.” Facebook also later removed the video from its platform.

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Shares of Google were almost 2 percent Monday and have shot up 30 percent on the year, including 37 percent in the last three months. Parent company Alphabet reported adjusted earnings of $9.87 per share with revenue just over $41 billion for the first quarter of 2020.

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