Saluting the work of fact-checkers on International Fact-Checking Day
Hey Checklisters!
April 2 is International Fact Checking Day. As an organisation committed to improving the quality of online information, Meedan works closely with fact-checkers and civil society groups addressing misinformation in myriad ways. Our global fact-checking project using the WhatsApp Business API has supported tiplines on encrypted platforms that respond to misinformation at scale. Check Global, our program that supports independent newsrooms and civil society groups across emerging economies, has partners who have led fact-checking initiatives around elections, COVID-19, conflicts and other global issues. Meedan’s Health Desk provides rapid responses to health questions from fact-checkers and journalists. Our partnership with #FactsFirstPH in the Philippines brings together fact-checkers, civil society groups, researchers and legal experts to protect democracy in the Philippines as the country prepares for its general elections in May 2022.
We are proud of our partnerships with fact-checkers and salute their work and commitment to the fight against misinformation.
In this issue of The Checklist we share some reflections and insights on our work with partners addressing misinformation in Latin America, North Africa Western Asia and in the Asia Pacific region.
If there are updates you would like us to share from your country or region, please reach out to us at checklist@meedan.com.
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The latest top stories
Cutting through the fog of war: how fact-checkers from 70 countries are fighting misinformation on Ukraine (Reuters)
In the early morning of 24 February, as Vladímir Putin’s tanks invaded Ukraine, Maldita.es, a Spanish nonprofit fact-checking organization created a database to store every claim they debunk about the war. They immediately shared the database with colleagues from dozens of fact-checking organisations around the world. The result is ukrainefacts.org, a public website updated by journalists from 74 news organisations in 70 countries where readers can find any claims that have already been debunked.
"Mis- and disinformation circulates very fast in every crisis and one of the ways to limit its impact is to debunk it as quickly as possible. Here’s why collaboration between fact-checkers is key. This database allows us to know when each claim began to circulate in each country and helps us not to duplicate efforts investigating the same things”. — Clara Jiménez Cruz, co-founder and CEO of Maldita.es
Algorithms, bots and elections in Africa: how social media influences political choices (The Conversation)
Social media platforms are becoming an integral part of Africa's political communication landscape through the creation, dissemination and consumption of political content, and this has had an impact on key processes such as elections. The algorithms behind these platforms are not neutral, sometimes encoding biases in choosing what information users will see, and individuals with political power and money can easily hire automated systems, like bots, to influence the flow of political content across social media in ways that can also distort information.
There are indications that social media algorithms and bots are slowly changing the dynamics of elections in Africa. This is seen in the number of political parties hiring a new breed of communicators, such as social media managers.
YouTube makes money and breaks its own rules with climate denialism (Agéncia Publica)
Those who search for “global warming” in Portuguese in YouTube's Brazil search bar receive denialist and uninformative videos about climate change in return. Among those responsible for climate fake news, are Bolsonaro supporters and ruralistas (agribusiness representatives) stand out, as revealed by Agência Pública investigation.
"YouTube is basically encouraging people to spread disinformation”, says Joachim Allgaier, researcher and PhD in communication and digital society at the German university Hochschule Fulda.The researcher also highlights the difference in the application of the platform's guidelines in different countries around the world. “Languages like Portuguese are important languages [for the network], but I think that YouTube's commercial focus is always, mainly, in the United States”, where there are also “many videos that manage to pass these filters”.
Six journalists prosecuted in Jordan in past month (Reporters Without Borders)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is alarmed by a wave of press freedom violations in Jordan, in which six journalists have been arrested and/or charged in the past month. Jordan is ranked 129th out of 180 countries in RSF's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.
“This wave of arrests and charges against journalists in the space of a month is very worrying,” said Sabrina Bennoui, the head RSF’s Middle East desk. “The Jordanian authorities must not tolerate misuse of defamation or cyber-crime laws that could result in police abuses.”
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Highlights From The Work Of Meedan’s Partners On International Fact-Checking Day
On International Fact-Checking day, Meedan’s program team members share insights and reflections on our work with partners addressing misinformation in Latin America, North Africa Western Asia and in the Asia Pacific region.