The Microsoft Edge app for Android and iOS now works with a built-in fake news detector called NewsGuard that will help you phase out any online misinformation.
Partnering with NewsGuard was a necessary step in Microsoft’s Defending Democracy program and NewsGuard for Edge was announced earlier in January before beginning to be rolled out now.
NewsGuard is essentially a browser extension aimed at fighting false news, misinformation, and disinformation. It uses experienced journalists to research and analyse online news brands to help readers and viewers pick the best legitimate news sources.
NewsGuard isn’t on by default in the Microsoft Edge app, but it can easily be turned on in the settings menu via the “News Rating” feature.
The NewsGuard icon will appear next to news links on search engines and social media feeds, like Google, Bing, Facebook and Twitter. Sites with a green rating follow basic standards of accuracy and accountability. Red sites are the opposite. Sites with a blue rating refer to platforms, orange rated sites are satirical, and a grey rating is indicative of sites that are in the process of rating and reviewing. Right now these ratings are only available for U.S.-based websites.
NewsGuard is also available as a plugin in Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Apple Safari.
By Daniëlle Kruger
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