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Survey says Amazon, Google pump millions into websites spreading misinformation about COVID-19

Survey says Amazon, Google pump millions into websites spreading misinformation about COVID-19

8 YouTube channels blocked for spreading disinformation.

Are companies that claim to fight misinformation about coronavirus actually capitalising on it?

A new report reveals that major conglomerates like Google and Amazon will funnel $25 million in 2020 to websites that spread misinformation about COVID-19.For every fake news website that gets ad revenue, Google will $3 out of every $4. In total, this is expected to amount to over $19 million.

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Amazon will contribute almost $2 million to the fake news industry, which accounts for 7 per cent of the marketing spending that these sites receive.This report was recently released by the Global Disinformation Index.

According to its analysis between January and June in 2020, the GDI flagged 480 websites as publishers of misleading information, or very simply - fake news. Many of these ads were for mega companies like L’Oreal SA, and Canon Inc.

In conversation with Bloomberg, Google claimed that this report was “flawed”, for its “revenue calculations” were neither “transparent” nor “realistic”. Additionally, Google claimed to have strict policies to prevent harmful monetisation of content.

The virus, which has killed over 544,000 around the globe and infected over 11.8 million is still being studied by experts. Just today, on July 8, many scientists claimed that the virus causes long-term brain damage even in the mildest of cases. However, this lack of information may have spurred misinformation surrounding the virus.

Google claims that it has removed advertisements from its sites that violate its policies.