While the largest tech platforms continue to assure us that eliminating misinformation is both a) very important to them, and b) impossible, Google’s search results were hijacked today by fake news about space aliens caught on camera “sucking energy from the sun.” A search for “aliens” turns up a breathless report from UK tabloid Metro about the alleged energy-sucking, which is sourced to a grainy video of unknown origin posted by an anonymous “UFO fan channel.” (We are not linking to this report on purpose!)
The bogus story is newly prominent on Google’s search results page, following a recent redesign that gives added weight to “top stories” in an effort to give Google more of a real-time feel. The new design also serves to highlight...
via The Verge
