OFF-LINE: How to quit with Social Media

FACT-CHECKING - OPEN

Country: ITALY

Place:

ONLINE URL https://www.open.online/c/fact-checking/

Period/duration:

Permanent – weekly

Promoter

"OPEN' editorial project of a non-profit social enterprise of young journalists founded by Italian journalist Enrico Mentana.

Aim

OPEN's Fact-Checking section aims to verify the truthfulness and accuracy of news spread on the web and especially on social media.
The verified news are then published with the result of the verification on the dedicated page of the site and then disseminated through OPEN's social pages (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).

Scope

Combating online misinformation, with a focus on news circulating on social media related to sensitive topics such as social, political and electoral issues.

Target-group

All

Short Description

OPEN's 'FACT-CHECKING' initiative aims to verify the truthfulness of certain news that circulate on the web, especially on social media, through scrupulous verification of facts and sources.

The fact-checking of controversial news spread via social media from dubious and uncertain sources is a journalistic practice that is increasingly used to counteract online disinformation and misinformation. In the age of social networks and hyper-connectedness, public opinion is increasingly influenced by what passes online, and true, allegedly true, or outright false information travels and spreads at great speed. In addition, subjects proliferate on social networks who, for various purposes, produce and disseminate news that is topical and relevant to the public debate of the moment.

Opinions are perceived and accepted as true on the basis of emotions and feelings, without an analysis of the truthfulness. It is therefore understood that it is increasingly important for all users exposed to online news, especially those circulating within social networks, to have a critical approach and some minimum skills to verify the soundness and assess the reliability of a piece of news. In this sense, OPEN's fact-checking initiative aims not only to carry out a journalistic verification of the news circulating on the web and to give readers an account of it, but also to pass on to the readers themselves the method of verifying the reliability of an online news item when they come across it. Controversial news items to be verified can either be reported by readers themselves or are selected by the OPEN editorial team based on what is covered in the public debate regardless of their importance or ideology. Furthermore, only news items that concern verifiable facts and not opinions are selected.

The verified news is then published with a final summary assessment, accompanied by an analysis of the facts and sources.

The synthetic evaluation options adopted are:

• FALSE for content without any evidence to support the facts;

• ALTERED especially for images and videos that are edited to convey a misleading message;

• PARTIALLY FALSE for content that presents inaccuracies with a mix of true and false information;

• CONTENT MISSING for content that is potentially misleading in the absence of further context;

• SATIRE for content that is ironic, exaggerated or absurd for the purpose of satire, but is not recognized as satirical content, sometimes because it is presented without a clear label of the type of content.

• TRUE for content that does not include inaccurate and misleading information;

OPEN's fact-checking approach clearly aims to be impartial and transparent with respect to verified news. The methodology used for fact-checking is clearly explained on the dedicated page of the website. Furthermore, OPEN is part of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN), an international body that brings together the global community of fact-checkers to promote fact-based information and combat disinformation. Network members must adopt and adhere to strict ethical and methodological standards in their fact-checking activities. OPEN is also the third-party body appointed by Facebook for Italy to carry out fact-checking activities on news circulating on Facebook, as part of a programme launched to limit the circulation of fake news on the social network.