Trusted News Initiative

The Trusted News Initiative (TNI) is an international alliance of news media, social media and technology corporations working to identify and combat disinformation about national elections, the COVID-19 pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines. TNI was founded by Jessica Cecil, a leadership figure at the BBC who also serves as the initiative's director.[1][2]

Trusted News Initiative
FormationSeptember 7, 2019 (2019-09-07)
Founder and director
Jessica Cecil
Parent organization
BBC
Websitehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/beyondfakenews/trusted-news-initiative/

History

In June 2019, the BBC convened the Trusted News Summit, bringing together leaders of many of the world's largest news and social media companies.[3] The summit addressed concerns regarding online misinformation surrounding the 2019 Indian general election, which reportedly attracted systematic attempts to spread misinformation and "fake news" through social media.[4][5][6] Organizations that participated in the event included the European Broadcasting Union, Facebook, the Financial Times, First Draft News, Google, The Hindu, and the Wall Street Journal.[7]

This led to the launch of a "Trusted News Charter" on September 7, 2019, outlining plans to develop tools to assist industry partners in "moving quickly and collectively to undermine disinformation before it can take hold."[8] Other projects were to include an online media education campaign and disseminating information on how to vote. Additional partner organizations were announced including Agence France-Presse (AFP), CBC/Radio-Canada, Microsoft, Reuters, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and Twitter.[7]

COVID-19

On March 27, 2020, the BBC announced that the TNI would extend its efforts to combatting COVID-19 misinformation around the world.[3][9][10] It continued to engage in information management related to elections, announcing in July 2020 that it was anticipating misinformation campaigns in advance of the 2020 United States presidential election.[11]

TNI Director Jessica Cecil delivered a presentation on developing a consensus in the "post-pandemic world" at the 2020 Paris Peace Forum. She highlighted the work of the TNI and the related Project Origin, led by Microsoft.[12] At a May 2022 event hosted by the RAND Corporation, Cecil suggested that institutional efforts to counter disinformation should focus on foreign adversaries such as Russia and China, as well as domestic consumers of disinformation.[13]

On August 25, 2022, the Information Commissioner's Office in the United Kingdom ruled that communications between the BBC and members of the TNI were not subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.[14]

The TNI announced its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region in November 2022, providing new partners from the area with training in navigating disinformation with funding from the Google News Initiative.[15][16]

In January 2023, a group of plaintiffs including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Children's Health Defense filed an antitrust lawsuit in a Texas district court against various members of the TNI.[17][18] The suit alleges that the defendants colluded to censor individuals and news outlets whose reporting on COVID-19 challenged or competed with the TNI.[19] Additional plaintiffs included various members of the Disinformation Dozen, a list created by the Center for Countering Digital Hate of the "top 12 spreaders of anti-vaccine misinformation on social media platforms."[20]

Participants

Members of the Trusted News Initiative include:[21]

References
  1. "Jessica Cecil". Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Archived from the original on 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  2. "Meet the Speaker: Jessica Cecil, BBC". BritishAmerican Business. Archived from the original on 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  3. "Trusted News Initiative announces plans to tackle harmful Coronavirus disinformation". BBC. 2020-03-27. Archived from the original on 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  4. Purnell, Newley (2019-04-01). "Facebook Removes Hundreds of Fake Accounts Ahead of India Elections". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  5. Goel, Vindu; Frenkel, Sheera (2019-04-01). "In India Election, False Posts and Hate Speech Flummox Facebook". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  6. Das, Anupam; Schroeder, Ralph (2021-09-10). "Online disinformation in the run-up to the Indian 2019 election". Information, Communication & Society. 24 (12): 1762–1778. doi:10.1080/1369118X.2020.1736123. ISSN 1369-118X.
  7. "New collaboration steps up fight against disinformation". BBC. 2019-09-07. Archived from the original on 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  8. Mar, Leon (2019-09-07). "CBC/Radio-Canada joins global charter to fight disinformation". CBC/Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on 2023-08-11. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  9. Fenlon, Brodie (2020-05-25). "Canada not immune to the virus of COVID-19 conspiracies". CBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-10-11.
  10. Mar, Leon (2020-03-27). "Trusted News Initiative announces plans to tackle harmful coronavirus disinformation". CBC/Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  11. Ramachandran, Naman (2020-07-13). "Early Warning System Set Up to Combat Fake News During U.S. Presidential Election". Variety. Archived from the original on 2020-08-02. Retrieved 2023-10-15.
  12. Cecil, Jessica. "A new consensus for the post-Covid19 world: Disinformation". Paris Peace Forum. Archived from the original on 2022-05-30.
  13. "Combating Disinformation by Bolstering Truth and Trust". RAND Corporation. 2022-05-24. Archived from the original on 2023-10-17.
  14. Churchill, Claire (2022-08-25). "Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) Decision notice – IC-185687-C4J8" (PDF). Information Commissioner's Office. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-10-17.
  15. Mar, Leon (2022-11-09). "Trusted News Initiative creates Asia-Pacific network". CBC/Radio-Canada. Archived from the original on 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  16. Jackson, Sally (2022-11-15). "ABC joins the Trusted News Initiative". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2023-01-26. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  17. Porterfield, Carlie (2023-01-13). "RFK Jr. Sues BBC And Other Media Outlets Over Covid 'Censorship'". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2023-07-06. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  18. Rawnsley, Adam (2023-01-12). "Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and His League of Extraordinary Anti-Vaxxers Sue Media Outlets Over Conspiracy 'Boycott'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2023-07-05. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  19. "Robert F. Kennedy Jr sues media outlets over misinformation initiative". France 24. Agence France-Presse. 2023-01-13. Archived from the original on 2023-10-17. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
  20. Jarry, Jonathan (2021-03-31). "A Dozen Misguided Influencers Spread Most of the Anti-Vaccination Content on Social Media". Office for Science and Society. Archived from the original on 2022-07-01. Retrieved 2021-07-18.
  21. "Trusted News Initiative". BBC. Archived from the original on 2023-09-23. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
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