Full Fact
 | |
| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Michael Samuel and Will Moy |
| Type | charity |
| Registration no. | 1158683[1] |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°30′19″N0°08′11″W/ 51.505194°N 0.136471°W |
| Website | fullfact.org |
Full Factis a British charity, based in London, whichchecks and corrects factsreported in the news as well as claims which circulate on social media.
History and structure
[edit]Full Fact was founded in 2009 by businessmanMichael Samuel,the charity's chair, and Will Moy, who served as director. It has 18staff as of 2019[update].[2]Moy had been working as a researcher forLord Lowand noticed thatlobbyistsoften provided inaccurate briefings tolegislators,[3]while Samuel had been concerned about accuracy in public debate for some years. Moy and Samuel were introduced byJulia Neubergerand began working together.[citation needed]
Full Fact applied to theCharity Commissionfor charitable status in 2009 but was refused. An appeal to the commission's tribunal in 2011 was rejected on the grounds that the stated objective of "civic engagement" was too political. Charitable status was granted in 2014 after the wording was changed to "the advancement of public education".[4][5]
In March 2017, theInternational Fact Checking Networkcertified Full Fact as a fact-checker.[6]
Moy resigned in April 2023, citing need for change at the top of the organization, joining theCampbell Collaborationas CEO that works on systematic reviews.[7]Chris Moris became the new CEO in September 2023.[8]
Methodology
[edit]Full Fact initially rated material on a five-point scale, using amagnifying glassas a symbol instead of astar.It dropped this system as it felt such ratings were unreliable and did not help its reputation.[9]
The fact-checking process includes a three-stage review[10]and facts also may be reviewed by external academics.[10]
Full Fact has been sponsored to develop automated fact-checking tools by theOmidyar NetworkandOpen Society Foundations.Liveis one such tool which will immediately check statements against a database of verified facts. The other tool, calledTrends,will track and display the spread of false information.[11]
Full Fact offers three-monthsecondmentsto statisticians working in theGovernment Statistical Service.Secondees have performed activities such as fact-checkingQuestion Timeand providing guidance on presenting statistics. Full Fact has also partnered with media organisations including the BBC, ITV, and Sky News to provide information about political campaigns including theScottishandUK-EUreferendums and the general elections of2015and2017.It also provided evidence to theLeveson Inquiryand theBBC Trust's impartiality review.[12]
Framework for information incidents
[edit]Full fact created a framework for so-called information incidents which is used by the Counter-Disinformation Policy Forum to assess information incidents.[13]The creation of this framework was supported by a grant byFacebook.[14]It deals with three classifications of data that should be responded to:Misinformation,Disinformation,andMalinformation.[14]The framework was produced with consultation with theDepartment for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport,International Fact-Checking Network,Google,FacebookandTwitteramongst others.[14]The framework defines 5 level of incident.[15]
Focus
[edit]
In 2016, Full Fact checked claims made during theUnited Kingdom European Union membership referendumcampaign.[17]In 2017, Full Fact worked with a similar organisation named First Draft to carry out fact-checking during theUK general election.[18]
On 11 January 2019, it was announced that Full Fact would be providingfact-checkingservices to theFacebookplatform.[19]
In January 2022, Full Fact signed a letter of fact checkers calling forYouTubeto stop algorithms from suggesting videos of creators deemed to be spreadingmisinformationordisinformationas well as to display contextual information on videos deemed to be spreading such information.[20]
In evidence submitted regarding theOnline Safety Bill,Full Fact argued for widening the definition of harmful content to be suppressed to include content that is harmful to democracy and society, not just individuals.[21]They argued that suppressed content should specified by legislation for increased democratic oversight, arguing that there was de facto censorship-by-proxy by the Government through government officials contacting companies.[21]: 49
In 2023, Full Fact called for the removal of Conservative MP,Andrew Bridgen,from the party after the MP made claims that covid-19 vaccines were agene therapywith various medical side effects.[22][23]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^1158683 – FULL FACT,Charity Commission
- ^About Full Fact: How did you get started?,2019
- ^Suzannah Brecknell (5 May 2016),"Full Fact's Will Moy on lobbyist" nonsense ", official corrections and why we know more about golf than crime stats",Civil Service World
- ^Sam Burne James (29 September 2014),Full Fact gains charitable status five years after first application,Third Sector
- ^Andrew Gilligan (6 April 2013),"How Leveson was denied the full facts",Sunday Telegraph
- ^"Full Fact".International Fact Checking Network.Retrieved27 October2022.
- ^"Full Fact to recruit a new chief executive".Full Fact.27 April 2023.Retrieved25 December2023.
- ^"Full Fact announces Chris Morris as new chief executive".Full Fact.14 September 2023.Retrieved25 December2023.
- ^Lucas Graves (2016),Deciding What's True: The Rise of Political Fact-Checking in American Journalism,Columbia University Press, p. 41,ISBN9780231542227
- ^abAlexios Mantzarlis (23 June 2016),Lessons from fact-checking the Brexit debate,The Poynter Institute
- ^Mădălina Ciobanu (3 July 2017),"Full Fact is developing two new tools for automated fact-checking",Journalism,Mousetrap Media
- ^About Full Fact(PDF),Government Statistical Service, 2017
- ^"Written evidence from Full Fact (TEB 46); Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee; The Elections Bill inquiry".UK Parliament.
- ^abcA framework for information incidents:Consultation document(PDF).Full Fact.
- ^"Framework for Information Incidents".Full Fact.Retrieved15 December2023.
- ^Sinéad Boultwood (17 May 2016),Full Fact's first Wikipedia edit-a-thon,Full Fact
- ^Roy Greenslade (9 March 2016),"Websites sort the facts from the fiction for EU referendum voters",The Guardian
- ^Robert Booth (20 May 2017),"Truth seekers: inside the UK election's fake news war room",The Guardian,p. 1
- ^Wakefield, Jane (11 January 2019)."Facebook employs UK fact-checkers".BBC News.Retrieved13 January2019.
- ^"YouTube is major conduit of fake news, factcheckers say".the Guardian.12 January 2022.Retrieved12 January2022.
- ^ab"Written evidence submitted by Full Fact: Draft Online Safety Bill Joint Committee".
- ^Garrett, Lee (18 January 2023)."Andrew Bridgen Covid claims debunked as Parliament ban ends".LeicestershireLive.Retrieved24 February2023.
- ^"Andrew Bridgen MP's false claims put lives at risk".Full Fact.11 January 2023.Retrieved24 February2023.
