What is to keep these fact checking organizations free from manipulation & spreading g propaganda? Will Google use this feature to further their own interests alone? If the answer to that is 'no,' how can we be sure they won't?
You can apply some spin and get away with it (and this will happen) but if you tell flat out lies, people will notice.
This isn't a panacea, but it is a step in the right direction.
Eternal vigilance and a dedication to the open society and Enlightenment values are the best we can do.
Journalists are also held less accountable than even elected officials these days.
I'm saying that it doesn't really solve the problem of lies in mass media and the impact of the lies. It's a mitigating factor at best, a polarizer at worst.
Fact checking is a good tool (critical thinking and self-verification would be better). What can save time over time is to know which publications continously publish the most verifiable truths. Albeit always reading with vigilance.
In what way would fact checking be polarizing?
Humans don't act this way and don't respond to it. The media isn't out to inform people through content, but to program people through delivery.
The only result of this will be to have people say "SEE! GOOGLE SAYS IT'S TRUE/FAKE!" And they'll share the headline on Facebook/Twitter and be done with it.
People don't act rationally anymore, especially when it comes to media.
Media outlets have agendas. The press hasn't been free in a long time. https://medium.com/@SarahRRunge/amazon-the-washington-post-a...