ΣA series of products and programs that will "help citizens get the information they need to cast their ballots", in view of the European elections in May 2019, Google announced.
According to the company, in the first phase it will support the process by providing voters with the information they need. "You may have seen Google Search tools for previous elections, in countries like Germany and around the world, where we highlighted information that helped people understand and participate in the election. "For the European elections, we will work with data from election commissions across member states to make available electoral information available and to help people find the information they need to go to the polls."
The second thing Google will do is in the area of political advertising: "We will require ads that mention a political party, candidate or official to clarify to voters who pays for them. We will also introduce a new process for confirming European election advertisers, to ensure that they are who they say they are. And more is coming: We will present an EU-specific Election Ads Transparency Report and an ad-based database of searches to find out who buys election advertisements, where target and how much money is spent. "Our goal is to make this information as accessible and useful as possible."
Google's third commitment is to protect electoral information: "We are continuing our critical investments to maintain the security of our platforms, and we are working with election campaigns, officials, journalists and more. across the EU to ensure the security of the online platforms on which they are based. For the 2019 European elections, we provide in-person security training to the most vulnerable groups, who face an increased risk of phishing attacks. We will pass them through Google Advanced Protection Program, our strongest account security level, and Project Shield, a free service that uses Google technology to protect informational websites and free expression from DDoS attacks on the web.
In closing, the American company emphasizes that the Google News Lab will work with media in all 27 countries, to support the crossroads of online news. "They will provide a range of free educational activities at the crossroads, to show journalists the latest tools and technologies to tackle misinformation and to support election coverage."
