The golden age of the internet news is over! The amount of fake news is outpacing fact based news, and being able to filter out whatâs real and what is fake is getting more difficult. No longer are the fake posts and emails littered with bad English and obvious fake links, itâs now almost impossible to spot as itâs delivered with the same quality and backing as genuine news.
Weâve listed below some of the best fact-checking websites available.
Like Mulder, we all want to believe. Bias affirmation is a fact of life. We all want to believe the stories that confirm our beliefs.
Say your favourite colour was blue, youâre more likely to search for, read, like and share stories that confirm that blue is the best colour, even if the facts used to âproveâ this are dubious at best. In addition to actively searching for this bias, a result of how the web works means that you are more likely to be shown stories that confirm your bias while browsing non-related sites.
Itâs tempting to propagate these stories, after all they confirm what you believe is the truth, but you should always stop and check the source of the stories first.
Checking the facts is not that easy, and coming up with the true facts is often a lot more time consuming than creating something fake. That is why fake news outweighs real news stories at a rate of 12 fake news stories to every 1 genuine story. (fake stat!)
So weâve cobbled together a bunch of websites and resources that you can use to quickly research a claim made in a post.
A relatively new fact checking website that aggregates answers from registered independent researchers and experts to find out if facts are real, giving the result as a percentage of likely or unlikely
Recent questions answered have included âDo routine mammograms save livesâ âIs Gluten unhealthyâ and âIs Autism prevalence increasingâ
Metafact recently ran a successful kickstarter campaign to raise ÂŁ27,000.
YouGov has proved itself as a reliable source of information for over 19 years. Itâs not strictly a fact checking site, itâs a market research site that provides reliable, proven statistics. Often claims are made using the stats provided by YouGov, but the post may present them in a way to skew the results in favour of the posts bias. You can find the original facts here and come to your own conclusion on the accuracy that they have been presented with.
YouGov started as a UK company, but in 2006 it expanded worldwide and now has offices in 25 countries.
As YouGov relies on marketing and research, they are always looking to recruit new people. Signup and you can be included in polls and surveys and youâll even get paid a few pennies for doing so â Sign Up Here
The YouGov Brand Index is a global index of brand perception, measuring users awareness and like/dislike of a brand. Often cited in end-of-year polls on the brand of the year.
A UK based independent registered charity that fact checks various claims from politicians, the media and social media.
Since January 2019, Full Fact have been involved in the third-party checking of images, videos and articles on Facebook as part of the Facebook Factchecking Initiative.
Recent posts include âDonât attempt âcough CPRâ if you think youâre having a heart attackâ âThereâs a lot wrong with this viral list about the Lisbon Treatyâ and âYou shouldnât put a tampon in a stab woundâ
Full Fact are a great resource for Facebook users whose friends are often reposting memes and âlife hacksâ that are just nonsense.
The BBC Reality Check is part of their renowned news service which aims to âCut through the spin and concentrate on the factsâ
Mainly checking facts and providing clarification on world news topics, recent articles have included âHow mass shootings have changed gun lawsâ âWhat is the Vienna Conventionâ and âHow could Brexit be delayedâ
Channel 4âs journalists sift through the news here to check facts and provide more information on claims made in the press and on social media.
Recent stories include âEsther McVey wrong about adopting euroâ âThe truth about MPsâ payâ and âAre Labour inflating their membership figures?â
Retraction Watch is a blog that monitors and reports the retraction of scientific papers. Itâs part of the Center For Scientific Integrity.
Claims made on based on the content of scientific papers that have been retracted should not be relied upon.
A scientific paper can be retracted for a number of reasons, Retraction Watch will identify the reason for the retraction and highlight if the paper was attempting to deliberately post inaccurate statements or facts.
Recent posts from the site include a retraction from Erin Potts-Kant, a former lab technician at Duke University. Erin has sofar had 17 papers retracted and had a False Claims Act brought against her and the lab where she worked, and a charge of embezzlement of $25,000 from the university.
An independent campaigning charity that challenges the misrepresentation of science and evidence in public life. Advocating openness and honesty about scientific research findings.
âScientific evidence can be a powerful tool for insight, accountability and change. Yet public life often revolves around claims based on poor or misrepresented evidence. We want to change thatâ
Sense About Science â What we are doing.
Ask for Evidence is run by the Sense About Science people and offers a way for individuals to ask for clarity and confirmation of facts made by public figures and businesses. It includes an online form to help you ask for information, and tips on how to approach different situations to get the results youâre after.
A UK/US organisation who look to verify âbreaking newsâ from social media outlets, the kind of claims that sometimes go viral before they are actually confirmed as true or not.
More aimed at journalists and media outlets, it is also a good place to check if that âbreaking newsâ story is actually true.
Add them in the comments section below and weâll add them to our list if they prove trustworthy.
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