VOA科学技术2023--Microsoft Reports Progress with Project to Fight Online Misinformation

Microsoft Reports Progress with Project to Fight Online Misinformation

American technology company Microsoft is reporting progress with a program that aims to fight misinformation online.

Leaders of the project recently spoke¹ to The Associated Press about the effort. Microsoft teamed up with the nonprofit Trust Project last year to suggest tools to help users find trustworthy news sources. The Trust Project is a group of linked news organizations.

Microsoft and the Trust Project created advertisements that direct internet users to a list of eight "trust indicators³" that can be used to judge websites. One indicator² is whether opinion writing is clearly identified. Others provide guidelines for recognizing good reporting methods, identifying bias⁴ and finding quality news sources.

Microsoft said most of the people who saw their indicators said the guidelines improved their ability to judge which online news sources were trustworthy and which ones contained misinformation.

"This was a bit of an experiment for us," said Ginny Badanes, director of Microsoft's Democracy Forward Initiative. The group is part of Microsoft's efforts to get involved in online reporting and democracy. Badanes told The Associated Press, "The world is changing very quickly and people need tools to equip themselves."

Services like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have been blamed for fueling political divisions and reducing trust in democratic systems.

There are already many existing efforts that say they are aimed at fighting online misinformation. These include fact-checking services. These services seek to examine news stories gaining wide public attention and to explain whether they are true or not. But these services require a lot of research and workers, are not seen by many people, and are not likely to persuade people already distrustful of the media.

Another way to fight online misinformation is through the moderation efforts of technology companies themselves. But these efforts have failed to satisfy many critics of social media services. And legislative⁵ efforts to force technology companies to do more policing themselves have been slow to progress.

But some measures designed to increase critical thinking skills and media literacy have shown success. These are aimed at helping⁶ people learn how to identify misinformation themselves. Last year, Google launched a series of videos on YouTube in Eastern Europe that were designed to teach people how misinformation works. That campaign was recently expanded to Germany.

Sally Lehrman is a reporter and chief executive at the Trust Project. She told the AP there are important signs to look for when seeking trustworthy news organizations. These organizations will identify their sources, present diverse voices and require their workers to observe rules aimed at producing high quality reporting.

In the experiment, users of Microsoft products and systems, including email, were shown ads. Over a six-month period, the ads led to twice as many people visiting the project's site. About 62 percent of those who visited the site said it helped them feel more confident about judging online information.

Lehrman said she was pleased by the results of the indicator guidelines. She noted⁷ that short internet ads are a low-cost, easy answer compared to complex legislative efforts or policing attempts by tech companies themselves.

Lehrman said the need for media literacy programs is increasingly needed as new artificial intelligence methods make misinformation easier than ever to create and spread.

Lehrman said the research proves that many people will read ads that offer help in dealing⁸ with online misinformation. But she added that the ads must be effective in getting people's attention.

"Are we asking people to eat their broccoli⁹? I always reject that because I think broccoli is delicious," she said. "But we have to make it delicious."

Words in This Story

source – n. where something comes from

indicator – n. a condition that shows what something is like or how it is changing

bias – n. a situation in which you support or oppose something in an unfair way because you are influenced by personal opinions

moderate – v. to make sure the rules of an internet discussion are not broken

literate¹⁰ – adj. having knowledge or competence¹¹ in a certain area

diverse – adj. including many different kinds of something

confident – adj. sure about your ability to do things well

delicious – adj. tasting very good

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

3 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

4 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

5 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

6 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 broccoli   

n.绿菜花，花椰菜

参考例句：

• She grew all the broccoli plants from seed.这些花椰菜都是她用种子培育出来的。
• They think broccoli is only green and cauliflower is only white.他们认为西兰花只有绿色的，而菜花都是白色的。

10 literate   

n.学者；adj.精通文学的，受过教育的

参考例句：

• Only a few of the nation's peasants are literate.这个国家的农民中只有少数人能识字。
• A literate person can get knowledge through reading many books.一个受过教育的人可以通过读书而获得知识。

11 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。