The 2017 French presidential election was supported by an anti-fake news campaign, courtesy of JWT Paris ad agency and Libération newspaper. Launched ahead of the elections, the project was implemented mainly to help voters stay away from misinformation. But how can completely avoid the fake news nowadays? By using a search engine. But not just an ordinary one, but one that has gained the title of “the slowest search engine on earth.”
Yet, why would users use the world’s slowest search engine instead of using Google, which, thanks to recent technological progress, offers millions of results in less than a second? Why would anyone choose a search tool that takes, on average, 2,5 hours to give an answer? Well, it’s actually simple: because behind the tool, there are a bunch of journalists who track down the truth behind your question.
In this week’s #ThrowBrandThursday, we remind you of the French newspaper’s efforts to fight against the phenomenon of fake news. Instead of using algorithms to offer an answer, the “Human Search Engine” employs patience as a way of delivering results. To make people discern between what is true and what is not, one of the most recognized newspapers in France, Libération, decided that these kinds of news should be about quality, not quantity.
Forget about the search engines that bloom in the Silicon Valley, because we have had one of the most accurate and reliable search engines in the world right under our noses: CheckNews. Prior to the election day, voters were able to address their questions on checknews.fr. Once the users hit enter, a group of journalists from Libération started their investigation and came back with a real answer a few hours later. The idea behind this project was to give people an idea of with what they really need to equip themselves to win against populism and that is: real facts.
Voters had three days to ask their questions. “Is France becoming an Islamic republic?”, “Is Emmanuel Macron financed by Saudi Arabia?”, or “Has the Euro raised prices?” were just some of the common questions for which the journalists found reliable answers a few hours later.
During the campaign, #CheckNews gathered over 120 million media impressions and became the most trending term on French social media. The project’s success made Libération continue its initiative, and the newspaper decided to transform the online tool into a permanent weapon in a fight against fake news.
The campaign’s success is reflected not only in the newspaper’s will to continue the initiative but also in the awards it received over time: it scooped a Wood Pencil at the D&AD Awards and two Silver Lions at Cannes. Way to go, Libération!