MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. A number of lead Russian IT and mass media companies united for a systemic fight against fake information in the Internet and development of a safe informational environment. The corresponding memorandum was signed at TASS headquarters in Moscow on Thursday.

The document signatories include TASS, Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Rambler&Co, Interfax, Izvestia, RBC, Rutube, Ura.ru, Business News Media (owner of Vedomosti), The Bell, ANO Dialog and number of others.

The document will be stored in the Regional Public Center of Internet Technologies, one of the oldest Russian public organizations.

About the memorandum

The companies united for a systemic fight against fake information in the Internet, development of a safe informational environment, development of single rules of verification and marking of fake information and establishment of the best practices of combating the dissemination of fake news.

The participants can publish quarterly reports on fighting fakes, which would include the aggregated data on the number of checked publications, their topics and other characteristics.

The proposed fake news countering measures include development and voluntary adoption of common mechanisms and rules of identification, verification, debunking and removal of fake information. It was also proposed to mark publications of questionable credibility with a corresponding note, and to accompany such publications with information from a verified source. The sides expressed their readiness to take measures on restriction of access to fake publications within the rules that will be developed.

The sides will also establish a collegial body - the Council of signatories to the memorandum. The memorandum itself will be automatically extended for one year, unless the Council decides otherwise.