The President of the Chamber of Deputies had addressed the bigwigs of the Web – from Facebook to Google – inciting them to fight against the spread of hate and misinformation online
Another step forward in the fight against fake news. After the intervention of Laura Boldrini, who had pointed out that Italy is among the countries most exposed to violent messages “because the control of content is carried out by a small group of people who are in Dublin” and expressed the desire that the same rules of control and removal, already in place elsewhere, were applied in Italy, comes the response of Google.
Giorgia Abeltino, Director Public Policy Google Arts & Culture, responds to the appeal of our Chamber President to inform her of the structural changes introduced to the Google search engine algorithm to ensure users find quality information. The changes concern, in particular, improvements to the system of positioning of content within the Mountain View search engine. “In view of the commitment you have made on this issue,” writes Abeltino to Boldrini, “I thought it appropriate to inform you directly about the decisions taken that go, in our opinion, in the direction you suggested.”
Solution to fake news?
The “repartee” between President Laura Boldrini and Giorgia Abeltino of Google is completely coincidental in terms of time. The recent revision of the algorithm of the Mountain View search engine is part of a series of initiatives implemented by Google to combat “hoaxes” such as, for example, the “fact checking” function – a sort of “stamp of authenticity” of the content – which guarantees the origin from authoritative sources. A function introduced in Italy a few weeks ago.
Laura Boldrini satisfied
The President of the Chamber of Deputies is happy that Google is working seriously in the fight against the phenomenon of fake news. A commitment that the Italian representatives of the Mountain View company had already announced during a recent meeting at the Chamber of Deputies on the topic of online misinformation. Boldrini considers the initiative “an important step forward towards the right to correct information” and hopes that the “collaboration between Google and Italian institutions can continue in the interest of citizens.”