TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Google working to prevent spread of hoaxes
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Batik prints surround the Google logo at the headquarters of Google Indonesia in this file picture. (Kompas.com/Oik Yusuf)
G
oogle is working to combat the spread of hoaxes on the internet in response to the government’s plan to penalize companies that do not retract hoaxes or false news from their newsfeeds or search results.
The new system will filter information and present only credible and high quality information to users, Google Indonesia told The Jakarta Post in a statement on Friday.
“When non-authoritative information ranks too high in our search results, we develop scalable automated approaches to fix the problem rather than manually removing these things one-by-one,” it said.
The government is drafting a regulation to enable the authorities to fine companies such Google and Facebook that fail to clear away hoaxes and false information from their newsfeed.
“[Such] companies should be willing to retract hoaxes, slanderous news or other similar such information within 24 hours,” presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki said previously.
The government is also cracking down on individuals who spread hoaxes.
