What’s All the Fuss About?
Newsguard
What is it?
A browser extension that warns you when you visit a website it claims knowingly publishes fake news, or has a hidden agenda. It tells you to “proceed with caution: this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability”. Newsguard hit the headlines last month over a warning it showed on one of the UK’S most popular websites.
Which one?
Mail Online ( www.dailymail.co.uk), home to the Daily Mail, and the eighth most visited news website in the world. The warning first appeared in August last year, but came to greater prominence in January when Newsguard was added to Microsoft’s Android and IOS app for its browser Edge.
What specific claims did Newsguard make?
That the Daily Mail “repeatedly publishes false information and has been forced to pay damages in numerous high-profile cases”. One of its criticisms was that the website doesn’t “handle the difference between news and opinion responsibly” (see main screenshot). It gave it an overall credibility score of one out of five.
Which other sites have Newsguard flagged up?
Several, mostly in the US, and on all sides of the political spectrum. These include the liberal-left blog Daily Kos, the right-wing US conspiracy site Infowars, and Rt.com (formerly Russia Today, pictured below right), a Russian international TV network funded by the Kremlin. It now plans to assess 150 sites in the UK.
Who actually makes these assessments?
Newsguard, which is based in New York, says it hires “experienced journalists” to conduct research to help readers and viewers distinguish legitimate journalism from misinformation.
How did the Daily Mail respond?
It wasn’t happy. A spokesman fumed: “We have only very recently become aware of the Newsguard start-up and are in discussions with them to have this egregiously erroneous classification resolved as soon as possible”.
So what happened next?
Whatever the Daily Mail said to Newsguard clearly worked because it backtracked in late January by giving the newspaper’s site a green tick of approval. It now says Mail Online “generally maintains basic standards of accuracy and accountability”.
Why did Newsguard change its mind?
It admitted it placed too much weight on how many complaints were made about Mail Online to the Independent Press Standards Organisation, without taking into account how many stories the website publishes - around 1,500 every day. Newsguard concluded that “in some important respects their objections are right and we were wrong”, though it refused to remove all criticisms of Mail Online, keeping the warning that news and opinion aren’t clearly distinguished.
Has Newsguard been accused of censorship?
Yes, mostly by those suspicious of the mainstream media. Piers Robinson, co-director of the UK’S Organisation for Propaganda Studies, says Newsguard aims to “control what people get to see and hear in the media” and to steer people away from alternative sources of news.
How do I use Newsguard?
Open the Edge app on your phone or tablet, then tap the bottom-right ‘...’ icon. Next, tap Settings, News Rating, and turn on the ‘display rating on address bar’ option. You can also use it in the desktop version of Edge (by installing it from the Microsoft Store: www.snipca.com/30461). For Chrome and Firefox visit www.newsguardtech. com and scroll down for links.