The Debunking Effect: Recent and Upcoming Challenges for Fact-Checking Organizations

"In an era when misinformation is spreading like fire, verifying information, and hence the work of fact-checking organizations, have become increasingly important."

This booklet, published by the Center for Media, Data and Society (CMDS), analyses the nature of fact-checking organisations, as well as the impact of their work on society. Based on research by CMDS, the booklet contains five articles that highlight the modus operandi of fact-checking organisations from across the globe, covering audience outreach, methods to tackle misinformation on social media, fact-checking misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, and fact-checking for teenagers.

The booklet forms part of a one-year CMDS project, which started in 2020, that sought to map and analyse the work of the world's fact-checking groups, with a focus on their challenges, needs, and successes. The project started with a survey of 30 fact-checking organisations worldwide, which were asked to indicate the importance of certain impact-related challenges. Based on the survey's results and research, CMDS identified four areas of interest, as well as groups that have been successful in addressing these challenges. The five papers in the booklet present the results of this survey, with a sixth piece that looks into the future of fact-checking (all papers were originally published separately but have been published together in this booklet).

The papers are:

"What Keeps Fact-checking Organizations up at Night" [February 2021] - This paper is based on a survey among 30 fact-checking organisations worldwide. They were asked to indicate the importance of the following impact-related challenges on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "not at all important", and 5 meaning "very important":

• Identifying the target audiences
• Reaching the target audience
• Relationship with mainstream media
• Using social media effectively
• Community building
• Gaining/keeping credibility
• Impact of fact-checking

The findings show that fact-checkers find reaching their audience, using social media effectively, gaining credibility, and achieving an impact, to be the most important impact-related challenge in their work.

"Fact-checking Organizations and Their Brilliant Ideas to Reach Audiences" [April 2021] - The research found that reaching the audience is one of the main challenges fact-checking organisations all around the world face. However, many of them have come up with innovative solutions to overcome this problem. This paper introduces four groups that implemented unique methods and tools to engage their audiences. They are:

• GISA Group, a Sudanese media development and research nonprofit registered in the United States (US) whose main aim is to empower civil society to hold the powerful accountable.
• DebunkEU.org, an independent technology centre and think-tank that researches disinformation in the public space and executes media literacy campaigns aimed at combating the phenomenon.
• Panos Institute Southern Africa (PSAf), a regional non-profit, non-governmental communication for development organisation, based in Zambia.
• Bloggers of Zambia, an independent and non-profit enterprise working in the fields of internet governance and digital rights, media rights and freedoms, and online creative content management.

"How Fact-checking Organizations Tackle Disinformation on Facebook and Tiktok" [June 2021] - Fact-checking is important for the health of our media systems; however, fact-checking alone is not enough. Exposing audiences to debunks is crucial in helping sanitise major social platforms such as Facebook and TikTok as false news still spreads rapidly on every platform in spite of recent efforts by tech giants to stop it. Two debunkers, Zasto Ne in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Verificat in Spain, are highlighted as two organisations that have found successful ways to combat misinformation on social media.

"Fact-checking COVID-19 Misinformation: Win Some, Lose Some" [September 2021] - The spread of misinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic created new headaches for fact-checkers around the world. Some launched new organisations, while others intensified their debunking efforts and shifted their focus - in some cases with limited impact. This paper showcases three fact-checking initiatives - Journalistes Solidaires in France, Nepal Fact-Check, and PSAf in Zambia - that aimed to tackle the "infodemic" and that have been in many cases successful in engaging their audiences.

"Tricked and Deceived: How Teenagers Take False News at Face Value and What Can Be Done About It" [December 2021] - Despite growing up in the digital world, today's teenagers are easy prey to disinformation, especially on their favourite social media platforms. This paper looks at three fact-checking and media literacy organisations that are addressing the needs of young people:

• ZimFact in Zimbabwe is an organisation dedicated to playing a watchdog role by fact-checking news and information in the public domain. It also promotes media literacy in schools, colleges, and universities and equips media practitioners with fact-checking skills and tools through training programmes.
• Verificat, the first independent, non-profit fact-checking platform in Catalonia, Spain, has also increasingly focused on young audiences in recent years.
• Teen Fact-Checking Network (TFCN), part of the MediaWise programme of the Media The Poynter Institute in the US, teaches "teens to be critical media consumers and make decisions based on facts."

"The Future of Fact-checking: Thrivers and Strivers" [October 2021] As the fact-checking field is entering a new cycle, well-connected, media savvy fact- checking groups are likely to thrive. But many more others, especially those without a connection to a media outlet, are facing a turbulent future. This paper analyses the business and operation models of fact-checking organisations around the world, as well as their potential development in the future.