Google to host training sessions in 30 Indian cities on online verification, fact-checking

NEW DELHI: Ahead of general elections, internet giant Google Thursday said it will conduct training sessions for journalists in 30 Indian cities on online verification and fact-checking in a bid to curb the menace of fake news.

Google has partnered DataLeads and Internews to host the training sessions, the company said in a statement.

“Google News Initiative will host training sessions in 30 cities between February 26 to April 6 in English, Hindi, Malayalam, Bangla, Kannada, Gujarati, Odia, Tamil, Telugu and Marathi,” the statement said.

The training will focus on areas like online verification and fact-checking, journalist digital safety and security, using YouTube for election coverage and data visualisation for elections, it added.

With ensuing general elections, the Indian Government has warned social media platforms of strong action if any attempt was made to influence the country’s electoral process through undesirable means.

The Government is also proposing to amend IT rules, wherein social media, online platforms and messaging apps will be made more accountable and be mandated to deploy tools to identify and curb unlawful content as well as follow stricter due
diligence practices.

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