We believe that in the era of digital revolution and information society, false information is particularly harmful. Fake news only serves the people who create it. No matter if they are made for profit, political or ideological purposes, they are usually just a mean to achieve a specific goal. We believe that it’s no way to have a substantive discussion or introduce wise changes with the use of falsehood. The society has the right to objective and reliable information and to make its own, rational decisions on its basis.

How and what topics do we choose for analysis?

The topics we can analyze must meet several conditions:

• They must be objectively verifiable on the basis of available sources. We cannot confirm or argument guesses, rumors heard, or made-up stories. If a topic is to be accept only on the basis of faith, we are not able to assess it substantively.
• They must be popular, or have the potential to gain big popularity on the Internet. Loads of false information appear on the Internet each day, but because of the limited possibilities we can check only those, which can reach a large audience.
• They must refer to Poland and be as up-to-date as possible. We work in the Polish network, so we do not undertake topics, which are irrelevant, or unpopular in our country. We rely mostly on the topics reported by our readers.
• They must be socially harmful, or mislead a large number of people.
• Because we fight against disinformation, we publish articles mainly concerning false or partially false information. Sometimes we also confirm information about which there are many doubts on the Internet.

How do we verify information?

We check information in few steps:

• We reach to the source. In order to get an explanation or a correction, we try to reach out to the people or institutions directly affected by the disinformation.
• We rely on reliable primary sources, positively evaluated works and scientific research as well as experts’ opinions. All our sources are generally available and highlighted in each article, so that each reader can reach them easily.
• In the cases requiring the determination of places, people and time, we also rely on our own open source investigation. We reach out to video materials and deal with geolocation and chronolocation. We always present the full way, in which we obtained information with a detailed description of the techniques and the methodology used.
• Each analysis and article is checked by another fact-checker and the editor-in-chief in order to avoid mistakes.
• We do not introduce our private opinions.
• We listen to the voice of readers and we update articles. If someone proves us wrong, we introduce corrections, or change the assessment of information in a visible way, marking where the mistake has occurred. The articles in which corrections were made can be found here. Each correction is placed under the claim and evaluation in the well visible red rectangle.

System of assessment

Our spectrum of assessments is described below. We always try to be precise, accurate and honest. We are open to comments and suggestions.

Sample claim and sample assessment

Take a look at the “Claim” section, which is placed beyond assessment. It is a summary of information, to which the assessment is related. An example:

Our rating:

Truth

This is the evaluation of the above claim. The claim is a summary of the information being verified.

Full list of assessments used and their definitions:

Our rating:

False

Information inconsistent with the current knowledge.

Our rating:

Scam / Deception

Misleading information aiming at provoking the recipient to an unfavorable disposition of his own or somebody else's property, or entrustment of personal data.

Our rating:

Manipulation

A message often using real information, which has been bent or distorted in order to prove one's opinion or influence someone else's views and behaviors.

Our rating:

Satire / Joke

Information is shown in an abstract, humorous way, aiming at amusing the recipients or criticizing or ridiculing a phenomenon, an event or a person.

Our rating:

Mostly false

The main elements of the claim are inconsistent with the current knowledge, but some additional details concerning particular information may be true.

What is false?

Developing the assessment and explaining which elements of the claim are false.

Our rating:

Truth

Information consistent with the current knowledge

Our rating:

Mostly true

The main elements of the claim are consistent with the current knowledge, but some additional details concerning particular information may be false.

What is truth?

Rozwinięcie oceny i wyjaśnienie które elementy tezy są prawdą.

What is false?

Developing the assessment and explaining which elements of the claim are false.

Our rating:

Unverifiable

Information, whose reliability or falsehood cannot be proven

Our rating:

Lack of evidence

There is not enough evidence to assess a claim as true or false.

Our rating:

Report

Collecting and presenting raw data/information in a clear and easily accessible way. Report presents the situation, provokes questions.

Our rating:

Analysis

Exploration and interpretation of data in a particular context - provides insights.