The Polish Press Agency and GovTech Polska have released the #FakeHunter web application – a new tool to combat disinformation about COVID-19

#Fakehunter – world’s largest anti-infodemic system

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FakeHunter
The #FakeHunter web application

On the 11th of March, the World Health Organisation has designated the spread of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) a global pandemic. Following in the wake of this announcement was another epidemic – that of misleading information, also known as “infodemic”. This combination of real and false information causes widespread panic and confusion among the population and prevents legitimate advice from reaching the wider audience. During this time of crisis, societies are particularly vulnerable to such misinformation. False reports about the virus-inflicted COVID-19 disease are often repeated on social media and even by reputable news outlets. The lives of millions of people and further existence of an untold number of businesses rely often on their ability to access verified information from reliable news sources. This is why the Polish Press Agency (PAP) and the GovTech Polska Programme – a cross-ministerial task force operating in the Prime Minister’s Office – have launched the #FakeHunter project – a community-based system for verification of online resources.

The goal of the system is to create a quick, user-friendly and error-free way of denouncing false claims surrounding SARS-CoV-2. The tool relies on a web application, through which all internet-users can submit a passage they wish to verify. This input is then redirected to community leaders and expert misinformation fighters who ensure the user receives feedback within 24 hours. The verdict, alongside the expert commentary and relevant sources is then automatically published on the project’s website (fakehunter.pap.pl) and its social media accounts for everyone to see.

Following a dedicated recruitment campaign, over 300 volunteers have joined the ranks of the FakeHunters. Most have already been trained on how to quickly assess the validity of online claims and use the system correctly. Together with the PAP team of experts they will now begin to verify the user-supplied information related to the coronavirus. The system is entirely open – we think of it as a first step in the project’s development. – Wojciech Surmacz, president of the Board of PAP.

#FakeHunter is a bold step in the struggle against disinformation. The project’s aim is to fight against a common enemy at the time of this infodemic. We invite all journalists, Internet-users and misinformation-haters to fight this common threat together – Justyna Orłowska, Prime Minister’s high representative for Government Technology.

The plugin can be downloaded and installed from the project’s landing page – https://fakehunter.pap.pl/ and its code will be made open-source in the future.

The project’s partners include Demagog.pl, DO OK, Objectivity and Amazon Web Services.

The Polish Press Agency is Poland’s largest news agency. It gathers, processes and releases objective news as seen from many perspectives from Poland and abroad. 250 journalists and 40 photojournalists work 24 hours a day 7 days a week to populate the Agency’s portals with information later used by media outlets, government institutions, businesses and individuals.

The GovTech Polska Programme is a multi departmental task force operating in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland and reporting to the Prime Minister. The Programme is responsible for coordinating strategic cross-ministerial projects that pertain to innovation, emerging technologies and digitization. Its goal is to foster the development of the modern State together with outside innovators – entrepreneurs, start-ups, the scientific community and the citizens themselves. The Programme gathers around it a community of innovators dedicated to jointly contribute to the cause of building a modern, fully digital Poland.

Source: Polish Press Agency (PAP)

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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