Internet Archive's Wayback Machine Warning Users about the Misleading Coronavirus Archived Stories

One of the major challenges during the COVID-19 is to fight against the misinformation about the virus online. After some of the reports pointed out the spread of fake information about coronavirus through Wayback Machine, The Internet Archive has started warning users when they click on any story that has been debunked or removed from the web.

Brandy Zadrozny, the NBC Reporter, Twitted about a yellow banner added on the site on a popular Medium post which was originally removed after being labeled as misinformation. The website persuades users to watch some of the videos from the video archive, comprising misinformation, like the conspiracy documentary, Plandemic, which was reposted.

Mark Graham, Director at Wayback Machine while commenting on the videos said it is about the context’s importance and value in archiving.

The Internet can be understood through the valuable resource available at The Internet Archive. Three years ago, First Draft News, a fact-checking organization, collaborated with the Internet Archive and verified the online information through the Wayback Machine.

In April, Joan Donovan, a researcher, debated in MIT Technology Review about how the Archive is aiding in spreading wrong information about the coronavirus through its stories, as the site includes archived copies of pages that originally have been removed or banned by the social media platforms.

The effectiveness of these warnings on the sites is not yet clear as websites are still analyzing how the alerts can help let people know about the misleading information. There are other sites as well that allow users to save and share the deleted content.

The Internet Archive also allows users to share comments or reviews on the videos which appear along with or above the fact-check by Graham. However, undoubtedly the Internet Archive has recognized the coronavirus misinformation as a major issue and is finding ways to deal with it.



Read next: True Or False? Spot Fake News On Internet With These Tips
Previous Post Next Post