“Read proof sharing” is a plug-in that measures your scrolling speed in combination with time spent on each article. This means you can only share once you’ve actually read the whole story. When the articles are shared in social media, they will feature a ”I’ve read it”-badge so other people can see that you read beyond the headline. We also released the plug-in as open source giving other publications or news outlets a chance for free to join the fight against fake news culture.

Fokus launched the plug-in on their own news site fokus.se. Next to all sharing buttons we implemented our own Read Proof-button. Once you’ve read the whole story the button became shareable and you could share the article on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn with Read Proof Sharing. If you just glimpsed at the headline or skimmed the article the sharing-button would encourage you to read more.

Read Proof was launched two days before Cannes Lions deadline. It immediately sparked a dialogue with nine Swedish news publication about installing the plug-in. It’s too soon for any further results.