Google introduces new tools to combat online misinformation: About this image, Fact Check Explorer, and more

livemint.com:

Google Search and identify whether it had been previously published on other websites long before. This is particularly useful in cases where an image is being circulated in connection with a current event but is actually much older, helping to prevent misinformation due to context manipulation. How other sites use and describe the image: The tool also provides insights into how an image is employed on various web pages, along with opinions and information from other sources, such as news outlets and fact-checking websites.

This data proves valuable in evaluating the assertions made about an image and gaining access to evidence and viewpoints from diverse sources. An image’s metadata: Users can access metadata, when available, that image creators and publishers have included with an image, including markers that may reveal AI generation or enhancement. This metadata will be present in the original file of all Google AI-generated images.

It offer journalists and fact checkers an enhanced method to gain in-depth insights into both images and topics. Utilizing claim review markup to aid in the detection and presentation of fact checks, this tool enables users to discover fact-check assessments conducted by independent organizations worldwide. The company said in its blogpost, “This summer, we released a global beta version which lets you upload or copy the URL of any image into the Fact Check Explorer and see if it has been featured anywhere in an existing fact check.