"Within this coalition open until June to all French newsrooms, the partner media will join forces to fight against fake news, pool their fact-checks to make them more visible and respond to requests for verification. of the general public", explain the media associated with the initiative, in a press release published on Tuesday.

The "Objectif Désinfox" coalition, launched on December 6, brings together 20 Minutes, AFP, Arte, BFMTV, Euronews, Fact & Furious, FactoScope, France24, Konbini, LCI, M6, Mediacités, Phosphore, Rue89 Bordeaux, Rue89 Strasbourg, RFI, radio France Maghreb 2, RMC, RTL, TF1 and TV5 Monde.

The National Institute for Demographic Studies (INED) is also associated with this coalition "as an academic partner", it is specified.

This program, coordinated "in total independence by AFP, with the support of Google France, intends to fight misinformation on several fronts".

AFP CEO Fabrice Fries (d) and Google France Managing Director Sébastien Missoffe at the AFP offices in Paris on November 17, 2021 Thomas COEX AFP / Archives

The verification work carried out by the various partner media will be visible on a dedicated section of the AFP Factual site as well as on "accounts dedicated to the operation on social networks".

The public will be able to "challenge the coalition on the remarks of a candidate or on publications circulating on social networks" and report false information.

The "fight against disinformation is the business of all editorial staff," said AFP CEO Fabrice Fries, quoted in the press release.

"The Covid crisis, like the intensity of the presidential campaign, particularly on social networks, demonstrates the need for all the media to stand together to fight against disinformation which threatens the foundations of our democracies", added Thierry Thuillier, Deputy Chief Information Officer of the TF1 Group.

Sébastien Missoffe, Managing Director of Google France, underlined that "every year, Google trains thousands of journalists in digital tools, in particular on technologies useful for verifying information online. This partnership with AFP makes it possible to 'amplify these formations'.

© 2022 AFP