Microsoft includes NewsGuard fake news warnings in Edge browser

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IMAGE: SCREENSHOT: RACHEL KRAUS/MASHABLE

How do you spot a fake?

When users of Microsoft's Edge mobile browser visit a news website with a dubious reputation, they'll now get a warning to proceed with caution. 

As spotted by The Guardian, Microsoft has partnered with the news watchdog organization NewsGuard to provide Edge users with more information about the news veracity of the site they're visiting.

Microsoft and NewsGuard announced the mobile browser initiative on January 16. Their partnership is part of Microsoft's larger Defending Democracy Program, which it announced in August; the browser integration helps promotes one of the program's core tenets of fighting disinformation. 

“Safe browsing includes providing our customers access to solutions that can help avoid misleading content, and so we are delighted to be able to provide NewsGuard’s tools within the Microsoft Edge mobile apps,” Marc Wautier, a group program manager at Microsoft, stated in NewsGuard's release about the program.

Though the NewsGuard integration is still rolling out to some devices, Edge users should receive a pop-up explaining the new service. They can choose to opt-in on the mobile browser itself. 

"What we’re doing is not only sorting out political propaganda fake news sites, but also a general media literacy effort of helping people to understand what they’re reading," Steven Brill, co-CEO of NewsGuard, told Mashable over the phone.

Thanks to the partnership, browser users will see a "report card" that summarizes the reputation of the site they are visiting, against standards meant to assess whether it contains reliable and objective reporting. For example, when users visit the Daily Mail's online site, Mail Online, a box pops up at the top of the screen that says "Proceed with caution: this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability," and links to more details.