It’s no secret that the concept of “fake news” has made it difficult to separate the facts from the phony. It’s the greatest source of tension between President Trump and members of the media. Now, a startup company is hoping to debunk false information circulating the internet. Jennifer Jones Lee spoke with Jim Ryan with ABC News about the new website, Authenticated Reality.
The website aims to identify sources sharing articles and news on social media platforms, rating them as true, or fake. Users register with the website and agree to submit their personal information, including their driver license as well as their social media accounts. This results in user verification so that people surfing the web can see who is an approved contributor. After registering, users browse articles, comment and rate their legitimacy. Governments, businesses, and individuals are eligible to register with Authenticated Reality.
“It’s hope that this lack of anonymity, if you will, will have people posting things that are more voracious. The more people who sign onto this, the more refined it becomes.”, said Ryan.
The website’s URL is areyoureal.com and is free to join for now. It’s currently in the beta-testing stage for iOS. The hope is, that the more people who sign up and contribute to the site, the better the chance for information to be fact-checked and possibly debunked. It’s all part of the effort to make the internet great again.