Google launches US$3 million campaign to debunk COVID-19 vaccine misinformation

The Google News Initiative (GNI) announced that it is launching its COVID-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund and will make up to US$3 million available for the cause. It noted that the global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines is exacerbating the existing problem of misinformation about immunisation. In the announcement, the GNI said that nearly 10,000 fact checks about the pandemic are currently showing up across Google products. The Open Fund is accepting applications from projects that aim to broaden the audience of fact checks, particularly with those who may be disproportionately affected by misinformation in mind, as some research suggests that the audiences coming across misinformation and those seeking fact checks do not necessarily overlap.