Google and YouTube on Tuesday said they’re providing $13.2 million to a global network of fact-checkers “on the front lines of the fight against misinformation.”
The centerpiece of the investment is a $12 million Global Fact Check Fund to support the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which encompasses 135 fact-checking organizations from 65 countries in over 80 languages. The Fund will open in early 2023.
Google and YouTube said this is by far their single largest grant for fact-checking.
“The Global Fact Check Fund will help fact-checkers to scale existing operations or launch new ones that elevate information, uplift credible sources and reduce the harm of mis- and disinformation around the globe,” Google said in a blog post announcing the initiative.
The money, according to the IFCN, will primarily go toward 96 organizations that have adopted and are deemed in line with IFCN’s fact-checking principles. Among them are PolitiFact, Reuters, Snopes, and The Washington Post Fact Checker.
“The world needs fact-checking more than ever before. This partnership with Google and YouTube infuses financial support to global fact-checkers and is a step in the right direction,” said Baybars Örsek, executive director of the IFCN. “And while there’s much work to be done, this partnership has sparked meaningful collaboration and an important step.”
The IFCN is housed by Poynter Institute, a non-profit journalism school located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Describing itself as a...
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