Master of all he surveys

So:

Fake news: BBC and tech firms join forces to fight disinformation https://t.co/JCobUnTryW

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) September 6, 2019

Comments most certainly could be going better under that tweet, as hordes descend to mention black pots and kettles and to accuse the BBC of being one of the biggest purveyors of fake news out there. 

The BBC Media Centre's announcement runs as follows:

A new industry collaboration to tackle dangerous misinformation was announced by the BBC and partners today. 

Major news and tech organisations will work together to protect their audiences and users from disinformation, particularly around moments of jeopardy, including elections. 

Earlier this summer the BBC convened a Trusted News Summit, bringing together senior figures from major global technology firms and publishing. Recent events such as the Indian elections have highlighted the dangers of disinformation and the risks it poses to democracy, and have underlined the importance of working together around shared principles. 

The BBC’s partners who attended the summit are The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), Facebook, Financial Times, First Draft, Google, The Hindu, and The Wall Street Journal. Other partners are AFP, CBC/Radio Canada, Microsoft, Reuters, and The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, and we are also consulting Twitter on areas of potential collaboration. 

Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC and EBU President, says: “Disinformation and so-called fake news is a threat to us all. At its worst, it can present a serious threat to democracy and even to people’s lives. 

“This summit has shown a determination to take collective action to fight this problem and we have agreed some crucial steps towards this.” 

The summit agreed to work collectively, where appropriate, to agree collaborative actions on various initiatives. The group will publish details of its commitments on these areas at a later date, following consultation. Initiatives include:  

• Early Warning System: creating a system so organisations can alert each other rapidly when they discover disinformation which threatens human life or disrupts democracy during elections. The emphasis will be on moving quickly and collectively to undermine disinformation before it can take hold   
• Media Education: a joint online media education campaign to support and promote media education messages 
• Voter Information: co-operation on civic information around elections, so there is a common way to explain how and where to vote 
• Shared learning: particularly around high-profile elections

Everyone involved is committed to ensuring the collaboration is a success. That means it must work in practice as well as in theory. To ensure the approach works and is fast and responsive, we will be conducting “fire drill” tests before we roll out the agreed actions.

Incidentally, until reading this I never knew that Lord Hall also now acts as President of the European Broadcasting Union. It's a two-year job he took up in January this year. 

He's a busy man, isn't he? Not just running the BBC, but the EBU too!