Google plans to stare down fake news on Ukrainian refugees
10:22
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is hoping an ad campaign can help prevent misinformation percolating about Ukrainian refugees who fled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion from shaping public opinion.
Google is premiering a series of 90-second videos in Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic that will seek to educate viewers about how to avoid being manipulated, according to Beth Goldberg, the head of research at its anti-propaganda unit Jigsaw.
More than 5.6 million refugees from Ukraine have flooded Europe since the war began, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Many have been welcomed in their host nations, but resentment against them is growing, fueled by surging inflation and economic concerns as Russia cuts energy supplies.
“We’ve seen from past waves of migration there are certain tactics which get used, like scapegoating and fear-mongering,” Goldberg said.
Google’s program will help researchers understand how effective the shorts are at “inoculating” viewers against propaganda, she said.
The study, which involved 30,000 participants, concluded that people from a range of ideological backgrounds were better able to identify falsehoods after watching short, sometimes humorous videos that explain common propaganda tools such as drawing false dichotomies.
