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Fact-checking and Fighting Misinformation

Checking Facts is a Skill

We are currently in an information war. In this environment, the American Library Association contends that "access to accurate information, not censorship, is the best way to counter disinformation and media manipulation." Individuals must take responsibility to do their own fact checking and make it an ingrained habit. We cannot rely on technology companies to succeed in controlling misinformation on the Web.

Try building your own skill in fact-checking with the following resources:

Fact-Checker Websites

If you are investigating unusual claims you have encountered, use these fact-checking sources to see whether there is support for them.

However, it is important to be aware that even fact-checking websites can have a political bias in what they select to fact check and how they do it, and the biases may even change from year to year. AllSides, which is a research organization that seeks to strengthen democracy by analyzing information and views from across the political spectrum, provides an intriguing Fact Check Bias Chart to increase your awareness of how even fact-checkers can be biased.

Here is a selection of fact checkers you might consider using:

Is it a Fact or an Opinion?

According to a Pew Research survey, over 40% of a sample of 5,035 U.S. adults scored 60% or lower when asked to distinguish facts and opinions. 

How can you tell the difference? In general, facts are pieces of information that can be verified with observation and research, whereas opinions are beliefs or assumptions that cannot be directly proven 

On the website for the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, journalist and teacher Esther Wojcicki provides a helpful chart comparing fact and opinions that you can view here as well as more in-depth blog post here.