Google and Facebook have announced new measures to fight "fake news," a term recently popularized by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Google today said it will be making its "Fact Check" label in Google News available everywhere, rather than in the United States only, and expanding the feature to its traditional search results globally in all languages.

google fact check
The "Fact Check" label identifies articles that include information fact checked by news publishers and fact-checking organizations.

For the first time, when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page. The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim.

Google said the "Fact Check" label is presented so people "can make more informed judgements" about a particular news story or claim, although the information won't be available for every search result, and there may be instances where different publishers checked the same claim and reached different conclusions.

Even though differing conclusions may be presented, we think it’s still helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree. As we make fact checks more visible in Search results, we believe people will have an easier time reviewing and assessing these fact checks, and making their own informed opinions.

Google said "only publishers that are algorithmically determined to be an authoritative source of information will qualify for inclusion," but it did not elaborate on how it makes this determination. Beyond that, publishers must be using the ClaimReview markup or the Share the Facts widget to be included.

Facebook for its part said it's working to better identify false news through its community and third-party fact-checking organizations.

facebook news feed false news
Earlier this week, Facebook said it's rolling out an educational tool to help people spot false news, developed in consultation with non-profit organization First Draft. Facebook said it's featuring this tool at the top of the News Feed "for a few days" to users in 14 countries, including the United States.

When people click on this educational tool at the top of their News Feed, they will see more information and resources in the Facebook Help Center, including tips on how to spot false news, such as checking the URL of the site, investigating the source and looking for other reports on the topic.

Facebook said it "cannot become arbiters of truth" itself given the size of its platform, but it's committed to fighting the spread of misinformation.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

jkcerda Avatar
107 months ago
Slippery slope. Don't care about Facebook but google as a search engine should be impartial
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
107 months ago
Oh great, now I feel safe. Now I can make sure I have all the unbiased left leaning news delivered right to my phone.
Score: 24 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrewDaHilp1 Avatar
107 months ago
Who fact checks the fact checkers. Some dude, his wife and their cat?
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Juicy Box Avatar
107 months ago
The "Fact Check" label identifies articles that include information fact checked by news publishers and fact-checking organizations.
Who facts checks the fact checkers?
There was an unprecedented case of fact checking during a somewhat recent presidential debate where a moderator decided to become a fact checker and corrected one of the candidates. Up until that point, that candidate was clearly winning the debate, and having the moderator fact check his/her facts totally threw the person off their game.

The thing is, the candidate was correct in their statement, and the moderator was wrong. Whether it was deliberate or a mistake is not clear, but the result of the misinformation may have swayed some votes.

So, who will fact check the fact checkers? How could bias be eliminated from the fact checking?

I am afraid that this is just another way of manipulating data to further control the information that people are presented with.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
samcraig Avatar
107 months ago
Make no mistake - this move is more about advertising than it is about stopping fake news itself. Brand safety is paramount and both Facebook and Google have been hit hard (YouTube specifically) because brands have wound up having ads on sites or appearing within videos that aren't in alignment with their brand. It's also skewed numbers and reporting (Facebook).

Follow the money - plenty of articles on the hit both orgs have taken when it comes to trust from advertisers.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LizKat Avatar
107 months ago
Fake news has a place. Like when you're four years old and the baby robin that fell from its nest in the rain (and that you insisted your mom help you find a warm place to rest in the barn and recuperate) dies overnight, and so.... the next day the warming up spot is empty and your mom says maybe he got better and flew back up where he belongs.

Past that, say at age seven -- the age of reason?-- then really fake news is ******** and should be called out as such. I'm not talking about opinion versus reporting, I'm talking about fabrications and failure to report context. If we manage to reach adulthood without being able to sort that stuff out, then it's nice if news aggregators are now (finally?) willing to assist. Unless, of course, you're the kind of political operative who revels in fake news. Sad day for trolls.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Apple Says iOS 26 Won't Be Available on These iPhone Models

Tuesday June 10, 2025 6:58 am PDT by
Apple this week revealed that iOS 26 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and newer. That means that iOS 18 is the end of the road for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR, which were all released in 2018. However, those devices will continue to receive security updates for at least a few more years. iOS 26 is compatible with the following iPhone models: iPhone 16e iPhone...
new iphone lockscreen ios 26

iOS 26: Five Changes Coming to Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday June 17, 2025 8:46 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has made some additions to the iPhone Lock Screen that aim to make it more customizable than ever. Of course, things can always change before the software makes its way to the general iPhone-owning public, but here are five new things iOS 26 can do on the Lock Screen as of the current developer beta. Widgets Top or Bottom In iOS 18, the row of widgets on your Lock...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Wednesday June 18, 2025 10:24 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the first betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a few days after Apple provided the betas to developers. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. When the...