Google To Expand ‘Pre-bunking’ Campaign In Europe, Germany Up Next

Amidst the rapid spread of online misinformation, Google’s campaign educating the masses to spot false information has delivered promising results in Eastern Europe. The tech giant is, thus, likely to begin a similar new campaign in Germany, according to a media report on Monday.

The search engine company said it aims to make users more resilient to the corrosive effects of online misinformation.

According to reports, it plans to release a series of video-shorts highlighting the common techniques misleading many claims. The videos will be advertised on platforms like Facebook, YouTube or TikTok in Germany. A similar campaign is to be initiated in India soon.

It's an approach called pre-bunking teaching which involves people spotting false claims before encountering them. A strategy supported by researchers and tech companies.

Commenting on the initiative Beth Goldberg, head of research and development at Jigsaw, an incubator division of Google that studies emerging social challenges said, there’s a real appetite for solutions, and using ads as a vehicle to counter a disinformation technique is pretty novel.

He expressed his excitement about the results as the belief in falsehoods and conspiracy theories is not new with the speed and reach of the internet giving them a heightened power.

Meanwhile, Google found its campaign in Eastern Europe varied from country to country with the highest video impact in Poland and little to no discernible effect in Slovakia according to the researcher’s findings.

The new German campaign is likely to be announced on Monday ahead of next week's Munich Security Conference, aimed at debating the world's relevant security challenges.