Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Tuesday 10 July 2018

YouTube aims to crack down on fake news, support journalism

By BARBARA ORTUTAY He said it would be prefer-
AP Technology Writer able if Google used people
NEW YORK (AP) — Google’s instead of algorithms to vet
YouTube says it is taking fake news.
several steps to ensure the “Facebook was reluctant
veracity of news on its ser- to go down that path two
vice by cracking down on and half years ago and
misinformation and sup- then they did,” he said.
porting news organizations. YouTube also said it will
The company said Monday commit $25 million over the
it will make “authoritative” next several years to im-
news sources more promi- proving news on YouTube
nent, especially in the wake and tackling “emerging
of breaking news events challenges” such as misin-
when misinformation can formation.
spread quickly. That sum includes funding
At such times, YouTube will to help news organizations
begin showing users short around the world build
text previews of news sto- “sustainable video opera-
ries in video search results, tions,” such as by training
as well as warnings that staff and improving pro-
the stories can change. duction facilities.
The goal is to counter the The money would not fund
fake videos that can pro- video creation.
liferate immediately after This image provided by Google shows a page of Local news in the free YouTube app for TV The company is also testing
shootings, natural disasters screens. ways to counter conspiracy
and other major happen- Associated Press videos with generally trust-
ings. For example, YouTube stories that can quickly pro- definition of authoritative is ter Institute faculty mem- ed sources such as Wikipe-
search results prominently vide more accurate infor- “fluid” and then added the ber who helped Facebook dia and Encyclopedia Bri-
showed videos purporting mation. Company execu- caveat that it won’t simply team up with fact-check- tannica. For common con-
to “prove” that mass shoot- tives announced the effort boil down to sources that ers (including The Associat- spiracy subjects — what
ings like the one that killed at YouTube’s New York of- are popular on YouTube. ed Press), said the text story YouTube delicately calls
at least 59 in Las Vegas fices. He added that 10,000 hu- snippet at the top of search “well-established historical
were fake, acted out by Those officials, however, of- man reviewers at Google results was “cautiously a and scientific topics that
“crisis actors.” fered only vague descrip- — so-called search quality good step forward.” have often been subject
In these urgent cases, tradi- tions of which sources You- raters who monitor search But he worried what would to misinformation,” such as
tional video won’t do, since Tube will consider authori- results around the world happen to fake news vid- the moon landing and the
it takes time for news outlets tative. Chief Product Of- — are helping determine eos that were simply rec- 1995 Oklahoma City bomb-
to produce and verify high- ficer Neal Mohan said the what will count as authori- ommended by YouTube’s ing — Google will add infor-
quality clips. So YouTube company isn’t just compil- tative sources and news recommendation engine mation from such third par-
aims to short-circuit the mis- ing a simple list of trusted stories. and would appear in feeds ties for users who search on
information loop with text news outlets, noted that the Alexios Mantzarlis, a Poyn- without being searched. these topics.q

Uber poised to make investment in scooter-rental business

By The Associated Press more than 70 locations in Washington.
Uber is getting into the the U.S. and Europe and San Francisco-based Uber
scooter-rental business. leave them parked for the Technologies Inc. CEO
The ride-hailing company next customer to ride. The Dara Khosrowshahi aims
said Monday that it is in- company is looking to buy to turn Uber into the Ama-
vesting in Lime, a startup tens of thousands of motor- zon.com of transportation,
based in San Mateo, Cali- ized foot-pedal scooters to a single destination where
fornia. expand its reach. customers can go to hitch
“Our investment and part- The scooters aren’t without a ride in a car and on other
nership in Lime is another their critics, however, who modes of transportation
step towards our vision of consider them a nuisance — even buy rides on city
becoming a one-stop shop and a hazard to pedestri- buses and subway systems.
for all your transportation ans. Officials in cities like Uber also has a food-deliv-
needs,” Rachel Holt, an San Francisco have been ery service.
Uber vice president, said in torn between promoting Rival Lyft is looking for new
a statement. cheap and relatively non- rides too. Last week, it
Uber will add Lime motor- This July 3, 2018, photo shows scooters by Lime in Paris. Uber is polluting transportation bought part of a company
ized scooters to the Uber getting into the scooter-rental business. and keeping sidewalks safe called Motivate that op-
mobile app, giving con- Associated Press and clear of clutter. erates Citi Bike and other
sumers another option for and Brad Bao wrote in a Alphabet is among several For Uber, the Lime invest- bike-sharing programs in
getting around cities, es- blog that Uber’s “sizable in- new investors. The money ment follows its purchase several major U.S. cities in-
pecially to and from public vestment” is part of a $335 will help Lime expand and for an undisclosed sum of cluding New York and Chi-
transit systems, Holt said. million fund-raising round develop new products. Jump Bikes, which rents cago. It will rename the
Financial details of the deal led by GV, the venture- According to the com- electric bicycles in a half- business Lyft Bikes. Terms
were not disclosed. capital arm of Google par- pany website, customers dozen cities including San of that deal were not dis-
Lime co-founders Toby Sun ent Alphabet Inc. They said can rent Lime scooters in Francisco, Chicago and closed either.q