In response to the growing concern over fake news, Microsoft released an update for its mobile Edge Browser with a new feature that warns users when they are reading fake news. This fake-news fighting feature known as NewsGuard will red flag any website you visit that isn't newsworthy.
Viral rumors and misleading information have been a serious problem today. It has been responsible for inciting people, especially the fanatics, who believe them into committing violent attacks and riots. It has also been a tool used in controlling the political atmosphere in a country with misleading information and propaganda. So in order to prevent such dangerous trends from continuing, several applications and software have been adding new features to stem the tide. For example, just recently WhatsApp limited the sending of text messages to just five recipients to combat the spread of fake news.
NewsGuard was first added to Edge Browser last year as a the browser's extension. But the recent rising tide of fake news have pushed toward expanding the feature.
By default, NewsGuard is not enabled. You will need to turn it on yourself so that you will be receiving warnings whenever you visit a dubious website spreading false information. To enable the feature, first download the Edge Browser app on your mobile, open it, then go to the Settings and click on News ratings. From there, toggle to activate.
Now that the feature has been enabled, you will begin getting notifications whenever you visit any site on the web that is rated by NewsGuard. This will be indicated either by a green shield icon that has a white check or a red shield with a white exclamation mark in the address bar. The green shield icon means that the site is trustworthy, while the red one indicates the site's untrustworthiness. When you tap on either of the icons, NewsGuard will provide additional details on its findings on the site.
Sites like FOX, CNN and the New York times with green shield in the URL bar indicate that the sites "generally maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability."
However, for sites with the red shield such as RT and the UK's Daily Mail, you will be warned to "proceed with caution " that the website has failed to "maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability." But as to be expected, this has attracted criticism from many site owners who don't agree with the result. NewsGuard, however, made it clear that it stands by its methods, and that anyone who feels they were unfairly scored should contact them, not Microsoft.
"They can blame us. And we're happy to be blamed," Steve Brill, co-founder at NewsGuard, told the Guardian , "Unlike the platforms, we're happy to be accountable."
NewsGuard is a news watchdog company based in New York that uses trained journalists whose ratings are based on "journalistic standards of credibility and transparency" to evaluate various news websites to determine the accuracy of their reporting.
Today, you can say that the fear of fake news is the beginning of wisdom. But with the fake news-fighting feature on Edge Browser, Microsoft is giving its users the tools needed to avoid deceptive journalism. Users are also reassured that the news they are reading is fair and accurate.
Though the NewsGuard feature is still rolling out to some devices, Edge users should receive a pop-up explaining the new service. The feature is already available on the Android and iOS of Edge browser.
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