BBC and Tech Firms Team Up to Fight Fake News

The BBC has teamed up with some of the biggest names in journalism and technology to fight fake news. The new plans include an early warning system for use during elections or when lives are at stake.

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Crucial steps

The novel scheme has seen the input of major publishers, Google, Twitter and Facebook. The BBC has said the moves were "crucial steps" in fighting disinformation.

The moves came out of a Trusted News Summit convened by the BBC that saw senior figures from major global technology firms and publishing gather to discuss how to tackle the problem of fake news. The group's new plans where reported by the BBC to be as follows:

• Early warning system: creating a system so that organisations can alert each other rapidly when they discover disinformation that threatens human life or disrupts democracy during elections. The emphasis will be on moving quickly and collectively to undermine disinformation before it can take hold.
• Media education: a joint online media education campaign to support and promote media education messages.
• Voter information: co-operation on civic information around elections, so there is a common way to explain how and where to vote.
• Shared learning:  particularly around high-profile elections.

A threat to us all

BBC Director General Tony Hall said: "Disinformation and so-called fake news is a threat to us all. At its worst, it can present a serious threat to democracy and even to people's lives.

"This summit has shown a determination to take collective action to fight this problem and we have agreed some crucial steps towards this."