We’re living in an age when it is harder than ever to know whether you can believe the news story you’re reading. This is about so much more than the “Fake News” the president talks of any time a critical story comes out about him or members of his administration. This is about stories that come to us via social media and other communication platforms like WhatsApp. There are now thousands of stories being shared on a daily basis that present false facts or some sort of political agenda.
With political chaos spreading around the world, it is clear that these polarizing fake news stories and one-sided opinion pieces are causing real problems. It is now more important than ever to know that the news you’re basing your opinions on is objective fact rather than subjective opinion.
Nobias will help you determine if a news story is trustworthy and whether it has a political leaning
It wasn’t too long ago when Microsoft introduced NewsGuard technology into the Microsoft Edge browser for mobile. NewsGuard automatically flags fake and untrustworthy sites so that you know the story you’re reading shouldn’t be trusted. Now, thanks to Nobias, Google Chrome users will have something similar.
Nobias is a free extension for Google Chrome. According to the Nobias homepage, the extension fits perfectly with the company’s mission of, “promoting responsible/inclusive technology to protect consumers from deceptive or misleading content on the internet.”
There is also an education element. The Nobias site says, “We hope to help people understand the landscape of media bias and to give them the power over the algorithms that shape what they read and see online.” The extension then aims to show users a clear message about the story they’re currently reading while also showing how current technology is influencing the news stories they’re seeing more often.
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Read Now ►The Nobias extension uses a machine learning algorithm to look out for certain keywords and phrases. It is then able to show whether there has been a political slant to the left or right written into the story. As well as this, the extension also gives each publisher and author a credibility rating so that readers know whether they can be trusted or not. Publications get a score from one to five, with one being the highest and writers are ranked on the credibility of their employer as well as whether they’ve won any prestigious journalism awards. For more information on how Nobias determines political bias, click here.
Nobias is currently available for all Chrome users. It can be added for free here. The team behind it is currently working on bringing extensions to other browsers too including Safari, Firefox, and Opera. With the Democratic primary already hotting up and Trump up for re-election next year, it could be a good time to start protecting yourself against the dangers of fake news.
Why use Nobias? When you use Google Search and Facebook News feed you’ll see the Nobias paw prints on thousands of news sources, all for free. https://t.co/8R0Iz781dV pic.twitter.com/04a4jSsnyf
— Nobias (@NobiasNYC) March 12, 2019
