After Android and iOS users got the last update for Microsoft’s Edge mobile browser, they began receiving flagging fake news sites. The feature was previously only available as a desktop plug-in, and it is powered by news rating company NewsGuard which identifies an unreliable website by using journalists, not algorithms. This new extension is also available for Firefox, Chrome, and Safari.
Via Edge’s settings under “news rating” NewsGuard can be toggled on. If you read its description, you will see that it evaluated that 98% of online media engagements in the United States are news websites. To make it easier for you, we will tell you how it works. It provides a rating icon in the address bar once enabled. If you see a red on it means that the site is unreliable, but when you are on a trusted site the color will be green. If you want more info, you can tap it, and a nutritional label will pop up. When a site is considered untrustworthy, it will show the message: “Proceed with caution: this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability.” If it happens to see a site without a label, you can submit it, and it will be reviewed.
According to The Guardian, the MailOnline site is flagged as unreliable by the tool. After we made some tests, Breitbart is another red flagged site while The Daily Wire is considered safe, even though it was called out by Snopes for offering false information. Other sites such as Fox Newswire and CNN are also deemed as safe.
Do you want to know exactly what type of site do you access and whether your security is accurate or not? Then you should think about enabling this extension that will help you keep your data secured from faulty websites.
Nora Reynolds is a major in biology and a minor in Biological Basis of Behavior, writing about science in general. She also likes to try new gadgets and sports about the AI new era.
