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Microsoft Edge mobile browser warns when it spots fake news

Mobile

CIO Bulletin
2019-01-25

Microsoft is taking a significant step towards curbing fake news by launching a new feature on its Microsoft Edge browsers for its mobile users. The Microsoft Edge app now comes with a built-in fake news detector called NewsGuard.

It is a remarkable step towards curbing fake news by a browser that is not as popular as its contemporaries. But the move is bound to inspire others to work on this. Marc Wautier, a group program manager at Microsoft said: “Safe browsing includes providing our customers access to solutions that can help avoid misleading content, and so we are delighted to be able to provide NewsGuard’s tools within the Microsoft Edge mobile apps”.

Although Newsguard warns when it comes across low-quality news it is perhaps not as fool-proof as one would like. But it is definitely a start which will inspire something better in near future. The Newsguard for Edge was announced earlier this month and is a part of Microsoft’s Defending Democracy program.

The Newsguard isn’t on by default. To enable Newsguard you need to head over to the settings menu and click on “News Rating”.