Google Allocates $3 Million To Counter Vaccine Misinformation

The Google News Initiative (GNI) is rolling out a new open fund for up to $3 million to combat misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, a blog post says.

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    The “COVID-19 Vaccine Counter-Misinformation Open Fund” will aim to fight the misinformation that has been used to target specific demographics.

    The fund will be accepting applications from groups or companies attempting to broaden the audience of fact-checking, as some research suggests that the audiences who see the misinformation aren’t the same people that are seeking to get facts checked.

    The fund is global and will be open to news organizations of any size that have a proven track record of fact-checking and debunking activities.

    There will be priority given to companies with interdisciplinary teams and proven ways to measure success, the blog says, such as an application which consists of an established fact checking project and a media outlet rooted in a specific community.

    Another example could be a partnership between journalists and doctors via technology in order to jointly look into misinformation and facts.

    The Open Fund will build on the GNI’s work from April and December of last year, in which support was given to news organizations fighting various pandemic-related misinformation. And the GNI is working on calculations on the precise ways in which to word headlines, formats and sources to best combat vaccine misinformation, the blog says.

    The COVID-19 vaccine, since its quick approval at the end of last year, has caused division online and in person, with some people being skeptical of it. PYMNTS writes that the vaccine has created “a new kind of influencer” in popular politicians or entertainers volunteering to get it live on camera.

    Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, alongside U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson, have been among those volunteering to do so, in the hopes of showing people that it’s OK to get the vaccine, and hopefully eventually build a herd immunity to the pandemic.


    Thredd and Payblr Partner on Compliant Issuing in Latin America

    Thredd and Payblr have partnered to offer compliant issuing for global FinTechs that are entering markets in the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region.

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      This collaboration aims to provide the regulatory foundation and issuing infrastructure that will eliminate the complexity traditionally associated with launching and scaling in these markets, the companies said in a Wednesday (July 16) press release.

      Thredd, a global payments processor, will provide its modular technology stack and global processing expertise, while Payblr, a Puerto Rico-based regional payments enabler and licensed BIN sponsor, will contribute its cross-border card issuing capabilities, according to the release.

      Companies offering gig economy payouts, disbursements or cross-border services are likely to be among the clients leveraging this offering, per the release.

      “Expanding into new regions can be complex and difficult to navigate,” Thredd Chief Revenue Officer Kevin Fox said in the release. “By teaming up with Payblr, we’re offering a faster, simpler way for our clients to activate programs in Latin America, without compromising on compliance, scalability or speed.”

      Fabio Garcia-Passalacqua, chief operating officer and founder of Payblr, said in the release that “financial innovation should move fast and know no borders.”

      “This partnership lays the foundation for a new era of seamless, cross-border payments in the region,” Garcia-Passalacqua said.

      Thredd’s combination of advanced analytics, fraud controls and integrated money movement enables companies to expand across the globe, Thredd Product Lead Brandon Ferris told PYMNTS in an interview posted in April.

      “They want partners that can support them” across regions, Ferris said, highlighting that Thredd has been building out its infrastructure beyond the confines of issuing and processing to support these cross-border goals.

      The PYMNTS Intelligence and Galileo collaboration “Digital Developments: Charting Digital Payment Growth in Latin America” found that Latin America is undergoing a dramatic shift in how money moves, with mobile wallets and real-time payment systems rapidly gaining ground across the region.

      The report found that across the region, the share of in-store transaction value accounted for by cash dropped from 67% in 2014 to 25% today. Cash is rapidly losing ground because consumers are pivoting to digital payments, the report said.