CBC/Radio-Canada joins global charter to fight disinformation

TORONTO, Sept. 9, 2019 /CNW/ - CBC/Radio-Canada believes that trusted sources of news and information for Canadians are vital to democracy. To support that goal on a global scale, CBC/Radio-Canada has joined the Trusted News Charter, a BBC-led initiative to strengthen measures to protect audiences from disinformation. The Charter is the result of the June 2019 Trusted News Summit and includes a commitment to collaborate on source authentication, civic information, media education, and other responses to disinformation. Read the BBC announcement here. Other partners just announced include Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, AFP, Reuters, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and the European Broadcasting Union.

"Disinformation is a global challenge. We need global solutions," said Catherine Tait, President and CEO, CBC/Radio-Canada. "Joining the Trusted News Charter is an important part of our ongoing work to ensure Canadians have access to trusted sources of news and information."

CBC/Radio-Canada is proud to be Canadians' most-trusted source of news and information, and has made verification and fact-checking a pillar of its coverage. Our efforts to strengthen news and information in Canada include:

• Building "disinformation units" in our English and French news services. These units bring together our technology, politics, and investigative teams to monitor and inform Canadians about incidents of disinformation. During the election campaign, the Radio-Canada unit, Les Décrypteurs, will offer a weekly television series on RDI that will provide tools to help Canadians evaluate the information they receive on social media. The CBC unit has created a user guide to disinformation and both news services are working with the Digital Democracy Project, a joint initiative of the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University and the Public Policy Forum, to track disinformation targeting Canadians.
• Working globally to increase trust and transparency. CBC News is part of the Trust Project, an international partnership with Google, Facebook, and other media companies to increase transparency and accuracy in online news. Our policies on transparent labels, corrections, bylines, and links to our Journalistic Standards and Practices on digital news have become a model for other partners in the project. Radio-Canada is part of the International Fact-Checking Network, a unit of the Poynter Institute dedicated to bringing together fact-checkers worldwide.
• Developing a global response to the threat of "deep fakes." We are leading efforts to develop common international approaches to fight AI-generated "deep fake" video news, including adapting existing technology to digitally verify the authenticity of our news content when it appears on other online platforms. CBC/Radio-Canada is joining the Partnership on AI, a coalition of leading technology, media and civil society organizations defining responsible uses of AI. CBC/Radio-Canada, the BBC, and the Partnership are also leading the working group for the Trusted News Charter's approach to the growing threat of "deep fakes."
• Supporting media literacy. We provide educational information on fake news, especially for younger audiences on our social and video platforms, including a special misinformation edition for Snapchat Discover. We continue to work with schools to help develop curriculum on understanding disinformation.

"The antidotes to 'fake news' are awareness and real news?lots of it," said Ms. Tait. "We will continue to look for ways we can join forces?with other public broadcasters and with credible private media?to support good journalism for Canadians."

About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada's national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada's trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.

SOURCE CBC/Radio-Canada