Listen to the audio version of the article
Fieg and Luiss Data Lab will receive, through a joint project, funding of 2 million euros and pro bono technical support from Google.org for the “Impact Challenge: Tech for Social Good”, an initiative dedicated in Italy to the fight against online disinformation and to cyber attacks. This is what we read in a note. The project, which specifically concerns the fight against disinformation, will be the first in Italy to receive the support of a Google.org Fellowship.
«Disinformation threatens democracy and the conscious development of society. For this reason – highlights the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council with responsibility for information and publishing, Alberto Barachini – we welcome any project that develops the tools necessary to recognize fake news and that can contribute to training editors and journalists”.
Luiss Data Lab and Fieg, the note reports, will develop a machine learning model, a search engine and an accessible user interface, to allow journalists to analyze web content on different platforms. This project aims to support around 10,000 journalists in 400 newsrooms, with a particular focus on upskilling and supporting journalists from disadvantaged areas.
The Google.org Fellowship is a six-month pro bono technical assistance program through which Google employees, called “Fellows” – software engineers, product managers, user experience experts and other Google figures – will work alongside alongside Fieg and Luiss Dat Lab to create scalable projects with a lasting impact.
«Disinformation proliferates where the quality of information is low; guaranteeing the reliability of the news circulating online is a priority for Fieg publishers: with this project we intend to implement the tools available to the editorial staff – states Andrea Riffeser Monti, President of the Federation – We are particularly satisfied with this important recognition, which will see us committed, in the next 3 years, together with the Luiss Datalab, in the creation of a wide-ranging project on the importance of reading and the need to favor reliable and verified information in newspapers, both paper and online, against the phenomena of bad information , to the benefit of the Italian media ecosystem and readers in general.”