Five Fact-Checking Tips from Disinformation Experts

‘Whatever you were seeing on screen, you were sharing it, because you actually were fearing for your life and you were not taking time to think before sharing.’

It is when online misinformation and false information is created and disseminated with the intent to intentionally deceive the public or to cause public harm that it becomes dangerous disinformation. That is the moment that we must react at all levels of society, together, to tackle the issue.

There are elements of sociology, anthropology, psychology, neuroscience, media literacy and more in that one impulse to share information with your friends and family, which is why ‘the multidisciplinary approach is fundamental,’ she said.

EDMO is set up to support the creation of a cross-border and multidisciplinary community of independent fact-checkers and academic researchers on disinformation in the EU.

EDMO has been enlarged to include national and regional research hubs, which are in a position to use their specific knowledge of local information environments. This will improve detection and analysis of disinformation threats and trends across Europe.

Freedom of Expression
Even though EDMO is building resilience against disinformation, an individual’s opinions about any particular topic is never in question. ‘You have to guarantee freedom of expression,’ says Lauri Tierala, Program Director, EDMO.

‘You cannot regulate disinformation away,’ he said. ‘You cannot have a Ministry of Truth.’ 

‘There are, obviously, legitimate reasons in every society for political differences,’ he said. ‘But creating artificial dividing lines via disinformation leading to polarization only weakens the whole society.’ In the Information Age, bad information can be highly damaging.

The war in Ukraine has made things even more complicated. In a recent post on the EDMO website, they investigated how social media channels that were usually centers of COVID-19 skepticism have suddenly pivoted to pushing disinformation about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

There are many incentives to publish fake news and disinformation. It could be a power play by a nation state actor or an advertising play by a monetizing/financial interest. Some people then just share with their networks, believing they’re doing some good when they’re not, but without malicious intent. Disinformation has different origins and dynamics in how it spreads.

Unfortunately, disinformation is here to stay. At times, it sinks to the level of being an existential threat by having a negative impact on public health and global issues like responding to Covid-19 or climate-change. In some contexts, it has been used to motivate violence and it has a negative influence in the public debate, especially when it’s part of a complex web of interactions.

Fact-checking is an essential skill to bring to the table, but EDMO has a broader mission to tackle disinformation and a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary way.

Informed Decisions
There is an onus on each of us to make informed decisions. We choose to go our own way with the information that’s available to us - red, green or blue, but we should have good quality information, argues Gori.

EDMO is there to assist that process, she explains. It helps to increase awareness of disinformation for better informed decisions. 

‘I would be happy to know that there is someone who actually makes sure I can do this,’ said Gori.

Follow the Fact Checking Rules
Tommaso Canetta is deputy director of Pagella Politica, an Italian fact-checking outlet and coordinator of the fact-checking activities inside EDMO. To highlight the mission of the  International Fact Checking Day, he shares his five top tips anyone can use for fact checking a piece of content they receive.

1. Breathe. Slow down before you reshare and take a moment to engage your critical thinking skills. Allow your fast-acting emotional response to pass.

2. Cross reference. Take the time to find a reference to the piece of news you are seeing from another source before passing it on. Use at least one trusted news provider and see if that piece of information is confirmed by other independent sources. If it’s coming from an obscure social media source, it may not be trustworthy.

3. Advanced searches are available. Many search engines have an image search facility where you can search a photograph or screenshot. Sometimes a piece of content purports to be one thing with immediate consequences, but with a quick search, you can find it’s from a totally different event in the past.

4. Go to a fact-checking site to see if it’s come to their attention. Some media organizations invest considerable effort into verification and provide all their sources so that you can validate their research for yourself. Fact checking services to consider include DW Fact Check,  FRANCE24 Les Obervateurs, AFP Factcheck and EUvsDisinfo amongst others.

5. Remember, as a rule of thumb, if something is too good or too bad to be true, it probably is not true.

Kevin Casey is Editor in Chief, Horizon Magazine EU. This articleis published courtesy of Horizon, the EU research and innovation magazine.