Public and Media Guidelines

for Fact-Checking COVID

Fake News, MisInformation and Distortions

VMCZ Fact Checking Guide

Types of Fake News

Fact-Checking Checklist

Importance of Credible Sources

How to Evaluate Websites

How to Analyse Images

Tech Tools To Analyse and Image

This Fact-Checking Guide serves to provide media practitioners and members of the public with tools on detecting misinformation, evaluating sources of information and using available fact-checking tools in order to access and disseminate credible information and news content.

The following terms are central to this guide. It is critical for media practitioners and members of the public to be aware of the difference between the terms, as it determines how they tackle them:

Misinformation: Information that is false but not created with the intention of causing harm
Disinformation: Information that is false and deliberately created to harm a person, social group, organisation or country
Mal-information: Information that is based on reality, used to inflict harm on a person, social group, organisation or country.

Misinformation vs Disinformation: The difference

Misinformation and disinformation are often used interchangeably. However, there is a distinction. While misinformation can be spread without harmful intent, disinformation is false information that is spread deliberately to cause harm.

The tools in this Fact Checking Guide can be deployed in responding to both misinformation and disinformation on Covid-19.

Why people spread false information

While social media, the traditional media and online media create platforms for information sharing and information, they are also a source of misleading information. In Zimbabwe, there is a lot of breeding ground for misinformation due to political polarisation, personal beliefs and low digital literacy.

False information can be spread by people to advance their beliefs, and to diminish opposing sides.

Below, you’ll find some of the biggest questions to answer in your search for the truth.

Types of Misinformation

Misleading Content

Misleading use of information to frame issues or individuals in certain ways. An example is a picture of an accident that happened in another country, being used with a caption that it has happened in Zimbabwe. Even with Covid-19 information can be published purportedly that it is in Zimbabwe when it is not

False Connection

This is when headlines are used incorrectly. The most common example of this type of content is clickbait headlines. These are meant to attract audiences but may not reflect the facts.

False Context

News and images are often used in the wrong context. For example, a picture can be used with a misleading caption.

Imposter Content

This is content created to appear as if it is sourced from a credible, known source. For instance, screenshots that appear to show a report from a BBC report.

Manipulated Content

This is when content is manipulated to deceive. For example, a video can be edited to show only a small part, which can change its entire meaning.

Fabricated Content

This is completely fabricated news, which can be published by fake news websites.

Checklist

Who: Check the source

Evaluating the credibility of a source is the primary check when assessing information. Is it a credible news source with traceable credentials and history? When checking a website, for example, it is important to trace what other content has been published on the website.

Further, check whether it uses real writers with real names, and their credibility. One can determine whether the writer is a real person by searching for their presence online.

Who else: Is the Information Available on other credible news sources?

Verify if the information has been published by other credible sources. While it is not unusual for websites to publish exclusive material, an incident such as a high profile death due to Covid-19, for instance, will be reported by multiple sources.

If one source is the only one reporting the death of a President of a country due to Covid-19 or a major fire in a major urban area, it is likely false.

When? Ask where this incident happened/or published

Old articles, images or information often resurfaces packaged as new information or news.

Verify when the post was published, and where the incident is said to have happened. The timeline is central to determining the credibility of information. The date can significantly alter the veracity of an incident. Facts are time-sensitive.

How does it make you feel?

Misinformation and disinformation are often meant to appear to the audiences’ emotions. For example, political sources may use a piece of information to deliberately stoke outrage, or to rally support for a cause, rather than to inform e.g. fabricate stories on government’s failure to manage the pandemic. It is therefore important to seek out contrary information.

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and believe information that confirms our biases. When looking at any source, it is important to consider your own views. Is the information source telling you what you want to hear or what you already believe to be? Bias can prevent one from realising that the information is untrue or misleading

The Importance of Credible Sources

Double-checking claims allows you to verify whether information is accurate or not.

What Makes a Source Credible?

These are MAIN criteria you can use to evaluate a website:

Authority: The website should have contact information, developer/owner information, and author credentials/qualifications. Check the About Us section.
Timeliness:The website should provide information about when content was written and published, as well as whether it has been updated.
Accuracy:The website’s content should be verifiable against other sources.

Website Evaluation Checklist

Checking websites

The internet is a good resource, but it can also be a source of misinformation and fraudulent activity. False websites designed to either spread information or scam internet users are common. It is not always easy to tell the difference. There are ways in which one can check the authenticity of a website.

Check other sources

It is important to crosscheck information with other more well-known sources of news. Do not rely on just one website. For example, a website may claim that in Harare on a particular day 1000 people succumbed to Covid 19 in one day in Harare. It is unlikely that just one website would be reporting such an incident, while other mainstream news outlets who cover the same area are unaware of it.

Check images

You can verify pictures used by a website to see if they are being used factually. Use mobile applications – examples are Google, Image Search or PhotoSherlock – to verify images. These free apps allows one to download a picture, upload it to the app, and search the internet for other places where the picture may have appeared before.

Check URL

Every website has an address, called the URL. This is a unique identity for each website, and identifies it from all others. When in doubt, check the URL of the site. It is important to be aware that URLs often have several parts. A key part of the URL is the area between the first double slashes “//” and the first single slash “/”.

For example, the CNN website will have https://www.cnn.com/ . A fake website will add extra characters to make you think you are seeing the real CNN or BBC website. For example, the fake website would have the URL: //www.CNN.news.com/.

Check spelling

Fake news sites sometimes carry intentional spelling mistakes in the URL, meant to mislead users. Unintentional spelling mistakes in the body of the articles on the website may also be a sign that the website was not developed by professionals.

Check author name

When you come across a piece of information, check the author’s name, if it is given. This will help determine if the writer is real, or whether they have other work that can be trusted. You can do this either by copy and pasting the name and searching on Google, or clicking the name if it is a direct link.

Verify with health websites

When in doubt on any Covid-19 information visit the Ministry of Health website: www.mohcc.goc.zw or Call National Emergency Response toll free through landline on 08002000.

Contact Fact Checkers

Citizens and media can contact fact checking platforms, such as www.ZimFact.org. These use credible sourcing to verify any information, and help determine whether source of information can be trusted.

Summary: Website Checklist

Name: Some websites try to mimic the name of an established news source (eg a website will contain the term BBCCom)
URL: A website’s URL helps determine its purpose — .gov sites are government sites, .edu sites are college and university sites, while .com, .org, .net, domains can be purchased and may be sources of fake news. Be wary of websites with addresses with unconventional URLs.
Is the site’s content riddled with errors (i.e. spelling errors, grammatical errors, headlines that don’t match the content subject matter)
Can you easily search the site via onsite search engine?
Does the site have a valid security certificate?
Do the site editor’s respond when you contact them?
Do attempts to access content frequently result in redirects to other websites?
Is the site often down and not functioning properly?
Do links typically lead to dead pages?

Analysing Images

What is the context in which it was used? (old pictures sometimes reappear and are used in wrong context)

2. What are people in the picture wearing? Do their clothes fit the style of the place where the picture was supposedly taken eg if they are not wearing any masks raises question that picture is not recent?

3. What is the weather like in the photo? (If a picture is claimed to have been taken in a bush in Zimbabwe in January, for example, the vegetation would usually be green)

4. Do road signs, shops and billboards match the place? For example, a French language billboard would be unlikely in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe also has unique road signs and car number plates

5. Look for inconsistencies in the photo that may suggest photo shopping. Some objects may be out of line or not in sync. The edges of objects may also show that a picture has been altered.

6. Establish if there are no similar photos, taken by other photographers, of same incident or person

Using Tech Tools To Analyse an Image

There are online tools that can be used to verify an image related to Covid 19 story.

1. Reverse image search

One can use Google to search for the source of an image. Go to Google Images’ home page (images.google.com). Click the camera icon. Go to “Upload an Image.” Alternatively, you may upload the image URL of any photo you find online. Once uploaded, Google will display websites that contain the photo.

Alternatively, right-click on the image, and then click on the “Search Google for image” option.

There are various free online tools that can be used to verify an image. These include TineEye. It is also possible to check images using a smartphone by downloading apps such as Google, ImageSearch, Veracity or PhotoSherlock.

2. Photo forensics

There are online tools available to check if an image has been altered. An example is FotoForensics, which identifies spots in an image that have been altered. Another tool, Imageedited, tells you what sort of gadget was used to take the photo, and when it was taken.