Qatari University claims to find solution to fake news
The program checks several factors, including whether the story has an emotional or subjective style
QATAR (Web Desk) – Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar has claimed that it has developed a software program which is able to evaluate news stories and determine whether they are objective, factual or merely fake.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the university says the program can analyze news in the Arabic and English media, and that it is working to expand the program’s ability to do the same with other languages.
The program checks several factors, including whether the story has an emotional or subjective style, whether it contains contradictions or attempts to impose an opinion, and how its headline is related to the text.
Saleh Ghareeb, a Qatari writer and political analyst, said the university came up with this “innovative program to evaluate the news transmitted through channels and media platforms, and to prevent the broadcast of false and fake news.”
Ghareeb also pointed out that some media outlets rely on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Telegram as news sources – which they are not.
“Even newspapers are relying on these [social media] platforms for content,” he complained. “The importance of the program is to help prevent fabrications from being presented as facts.”
Khaled Batarfi, a professor of communication at Saudi Arabia’s Alfaisal University, is less enthusiastic about news of the program, saying Qatar has “a long history of producing fake news” and propaganda.
