The spate of fake news online has become alarming, especially with the speed of its reach, and there is seemingly no way of ensuring the authenticity of information that is posted online, yet. To tackle this problem First Draft Coalition was formed with the backing of Google.
First Draft Coalition is a network of over 30 news and technology companies formed in June 2015 to tackle fake news and improve the quality of information on social media. They were recently joined by Facebook and Twitter.
Members of the coalition include New York Times, Washington Post, BuzzFeed News, Agence France-Presse, CNN, Breaking News, Al Jazeera’s AJ+, International Business Times UK., Euronews, Reveal Project, Amnesty International, American Press Institute and European Journalism Centre amongst others.
First Draft Coalition said it would create a voluntary code of practice, promote news literacy among social media users and launch a platform where members can verify questionable news stories. This platform will be launched by the end of October, according to an email by Jenni Sargent, Managing Director of the Coalition.