Fact Check

SYSTEM 18 INFORMATION WARFARE
DOMAIN THE SIGNAL

DEFINITION:

The process of examining, verifying, evaluating, or assessing the accuracy, consistency, validity, or evidentiary support of a claim, statement, report, narrative, or piece of information.

FUNCTION:

Attempts to distinguish supported information from unsupported, inaccurate, misleading, or deceptive information by comparing claims against available evidence, records, sources, or verification methods.

EXAMPLES:

Journalistic fact checks
Source verification
Evidence review
Data validation
Historical verification
Claim analysis
Investigative review

NOTES:

Fact checks evaluate claims against available information and evidence. Their conclusions may depend upon source quality, methodology, available records, definitions, context, interpretation, and standards of verification.

CONTROL TEXT OBSERVATION:

Information environments contain competing claims, narratives, and interpretations. Fact checking functions as a verification process that attempts to evaluate correspondence between communicated information and available evidence, thereby influencing credibility, trust, interpretation, and belief formation within an information system.