Showing that there are two sides to every story has never been easier, thanks to a new web tool that highlights disputed text on a web page and offers links to other sites with a different perspective.
鈥淔or subjects like science there鈥檚 lots of misinformation around,鈥� says at Intel Research in Berkeley. But it鈥檚 not always obvious to the web user which statements they read online are accepted by all sides and which are contentious. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what our new Dispute Finder is for,鈥� Ennals says. 鈥淲e鈥檒l let you know that there鈥檚 another side to the story.鈥�
, a Firefox browser add-on launched this week, was designed and built by Ennals and colleagues at Intel, working with computer scientists at the .
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Voting system
Once installed, Dispute Finder allows users to flag up controversial statements and suggests links to other sites that dispute the claim. Other users that visit the page can vote up the dispute if they think it鈥檚 valid, or vote it down if they think the evidence is weak.
(Warning: experimental add-on).
That could help web users gain a more complete picture of complicated issues. 鈥淚f I look at a news story that says the recent Iranian election was rigged, I鈥檓 interested to know whether there鈥檚 a reputable source out there that disputes this, whether there are a substantial number of people that disagree with this, and what evidence they use to support their point of view,鈥� Ennals says.
Respected sources
The research team aims to add extra levels of sophistication to future versions of the add-on. For instance, at the moment all disputes are treated equally regardless of the perceived authority of the sources quoted. But in future, users will have the chance to selectively display only the disputes based on evidence from widely respected sources. 鈥淵ou might want to know if a statement has been disputed by an article in the New York Times, but not if it鈥檚 been disputed in a little-read blog,鈥� Ennals says.
He thinks that will encourage those using the new software to highlight reputable controversies rather than using it as a tool to peddle conspiracy theories.
If the software proves successful, the research team plan to build an automated system that will check news stories for previously highlighted disputed claims as soon as they are published online. Ennals thinks the same system could then break free from the web and be used to highlight disputed claims in television closed captioning.
Colin Barras鈥檚 visit to Mountain View was funded by Intel.
