The Newsguard extension allows you to know immediately if the source of an article is reliable or not. Now arrives also in Italy
NewsGuard is a browser extension that lets you know if an online news platform is reliable or not. This tool has recently arrived in Italy and has already evaluated some of the most famous sites. The Post Internazionale, Il Sole 24 Ore, Il Fatto Quotidiano, Leggo and Agi Agenzia Italia have been promoted with full marks.
Websites are analyzed according to several factors and at the end the news receives a grade that is shown to users every time they cross the article online, social networks included. This tool proves to be very useful to recognize fake news and plays a crucial role against the misinformation that lately invades the network. In addition, the service arrives in our country in a delicate political moment: it aims to identify the really reliable publishing platforms, also in view of the next European Elections.
Newsguard arrives in Italy: pass and fail
In fifteen days there will be the European Elections and the major platforms have already moved to prevent misinformation from influencing public opinion. So, after the measures against fake news of Facebook and Twitter, in Italy arrives an extension that will allow users to recognize on the fly the hoaxes. It is called Newsguard and can be installed in any browser. Currently the tool has already scanned several Italian websites and newspapers. For each platform there is a special card that communicates the reliability. The cards are rich of information, and they mainly focus on more complex and problematic factors.
The only famous Italian site that has not passed the exam is Dagospia.it. Newsguard's motivation is linked to the various topics it covers, from gossip to politics, and to the fact that the news is often misleading or blatantly false. But also newspapers such as La Repubblica and Il Corriere are postponed to September, against all odds. In fact, even though they are admitted, they must take greater care over the reliability of their contents. In fact, often the news are not clarified or explained, and the names of the authors of the articles omitted. The best newspaper is Il Fatto Quotidiano, while on the front of the news agencies the only one mentioned among the best is AGI.
How NewsGuard works
The extension does not censor or block content, but offers the reader a card with a vote that expresses the reliability of the news. It is then up to the user not to be influenced or not to believe what he reads. So the tool relies completely on human intelligence. Using it is very simple: like any extension, just look for it and install it in your browser, such as Chrome, Mozilla, Safari, Explorer and so on. Once in use, it will show next to each content displayed a shield-shaped icon with a different color according to the reliability of the source. For example, if it is green the news is true.