Microsoft's Edge browser now warns you when you're reading fake news

by Alan Friedman / Jan 23, 2019, 6:35 PM

Microsoft's Edge browser now warns you when you're reading fake news

For those who have a problem trying to separate real news from fake news, the mobile version of Microsoft's Edge browser will try to help. A recent update sent to both the iOS and Android versions of the app adds a feature from a company called NewsGuard that uses trained journalists to rate news websites. These ratings are based on "journalistic standards of credibility and transparency."

To enable the feature, go to the settings menu for the Microsoft Edge browser, click on News rating, and toggle to on. After that, when you open a news website that is rated by NewsGuard, you will see in the URL bar either a green shield with a white check mark, or a red shield with a white exclamation mark. Tap on either icon to see what NewsGuard says about the site you are getting news from.

The green shield, which appears on sites like The New York Times, means that the site "generally maintains basic standards of accuracy and accountability." A red shield, which appears when you browse the U.K.'s Daily Mail, warns you to "proceed with caution" since that particular website fails to "maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability."

The idea is to get your news from sites approved by NewsGuard, and to take reports from other sites with a grain of salt. Note that this feature is found only on the mobile version of the Microsoft Edge browser.

New news rating feature on the mobile Edge browser suggests shouldn't trust news from the U.K.'s Daily Mail

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8 Comments

1. warrenellis93

Posts: 540; Member since: Jul 21, 2011

How can we trust the "journalist" to flag what is fake or not if they have a bias?

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 8:24 PM 6

2. viandrona

Posts: 19; Member since: Jul 03, 2016

Totally agree with you. However, people themselves are biased. Once you read a piece of news, it's not that hard to google (or bing or duckduckgo or even tor it, if you're paranoid) to verify. However, most of the time, you have two outcomes. Either: a. as previously mentioned, people are biased, so they read only what they want to read or b. people are lazy and won't even bother, they'll just take that one piece of news at face value. We, as a species, are doomed *rofl*

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 9:22 PM 2

7. blingblingthing

Posts: 912; Member since: Oct 23, 2012

Easy. Sites that tend to report news with no sources or supporting evidence. So people like Alex Jones etc should be flagged.

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 11:51 PM 1

3. md227a

Posts: 224; Member since: Mar 20, 2012

Are we talking fake news like “The Onion” or things like “CNN, MSNBC, or FOX news”? If it’s legitimate news sites that may lean far left or right we can’t say it’s all fake news.

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 9:48 PM 0

4. guest

Posts: 371; Member since: Jun 13, 2012

So no more BuzzFeed or CNN?

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 10:08 PM 1

6. blingblingthing

CNN that quotes sources and sometimes even the official government website is fake?

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 11:48 PM 1

5. blingblingthing

So when I see a web ad for product claiming it's the most advance or it just works and using the word magic (like some i product),I might see this "proceed with caution" since that particular website fails to "maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability." Got it.

posted on Jan 23, 2019, 11:47 PM 0

8. JCFan1979

Posts: 2; Member since: Dec 18, 2018

The problem with CNN, MSNBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, New York Times, etc. is that they are all considered fake news because they don't report stories without bias. They generally tend to tell the news, factual, in a way that leads the viewer to reach a conclusion that favors their agenda and viewpoint. That's why it's fake is because it's real stories told as propaganda and not truly showing the nuances of both sides (if we're being political and that's what this is) and discussing real life ramifications of both scenarios. This fake news detector is yet another tool for the media to push it's agenda. If you call the NYT real news then you have to ignore their blatant left leaning bias. Same for Fox or anyone else. Seems like a slippery slope to even try to find a solution for.