FactCheckNI CIC is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Northern Ireland at Companies House (Company Registration Number: NI660549). The company was established with the objective of to improve fact-checking and critical thinking skills in Northern Ireland.The company has declared itself as a non-profit, Community Interest Company (CIC), where all generated surplus income will be reinvested in the company. Company files are lodged at Companies House and can be found here: https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/NI660549

FactCheckNI meets all the criteria required for compliance for legal registration and has provided all the necessary documentation with their application.

Northern Ireland Companies House registration details: http://bit.ly/2Q9vGTC See attached files for further details.

FactCheckNI fact-checked claim articles can be viewed at: https://factcheckni.org/category/facts/

FactCheckNI publishes regular fact-checks and often exceeds the minimum one report a week IFCN publication requirement

See: https://factcheckni.org/category/facts/

For the General Election to the UK Parliament on 12 December 2019, FactCheckNI researched and published articles for claims made by five political parties, which covered the ethno-national political spectrum, from (Irish) nationalist to (British) unionist:

> Sinn Fein (Irish): https://factcheckni.org/facts/is-there-51-support-for-ireland-unity/

> Social Democratic & Labour Party (Irish): https://factcheckni.org/facts/elections/has-levy-removed-1-2-billion-carrier-bags/

> Alliance (Irish & British): https://factcheckni.org/facts/are-only-3-out-of-12-regions-net-contributors-to-the-uk-treasury/

> Ulster Unionist Party (British): https://factcheckni.org/facts/is-northern-ireland-without-funded-childcare-provision/

> Democratic Unionist Party (British): https://factcheckni.org/facts/were-90-of-those-who-died-during-the-troubles-killed-by-paramilitaries/

Our fact-check articles cover the topics: economy, education, environment, Europe (and Brexit), health, immigration, law, and peace. Recent examples of each:

> Economy: https://factcheckni.org/facts/do-over-95-of-south-belfast-residents-own-their-own-home/

> Education: https://factcheckni.org/facts/are-there-40000-third-level-students-in-the-northwest-of-ireland/

> Environment: https://factcheckni.org/facts/thousands-of-tonnes-of-slurry-for-pork-for-china/

> Europe: https://factcheckni.org/facts/does-brexit-deal-mean-no-forms-to-access-great-britain/

> Health: https://factcheckni.org/facts/does-northern-ireland-have-the-highest-femicide-rate-in-western-europe/

> Immigration: https://factcheckni.org/facts/do-northern-ireland-pets-need-passports-for-ireland/

> Law: https://factcheckni.org/facts/are-one-in-five-psni-new-constables-catholic/

> Peace: https://factcheckni.org/facts/does-no-one-in-mid-ulster-speak-irish/

Our policy on nonpartisanship can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/nonpartisanship/

"We fact-check claims using the same standard for every claim. We do not concentrate our fact-checking on any side of our communal or any other division. We follow the same process for every fact-check and let the evidence dictate our conclusions. We do not advocate nor take policy positions on the issues that we fact-check."

"Our fact-checked claim articles cover the political spectrum in Northern Ireland, and with claims by individual parties and their representatives both validated and rebuked; we publish the results of all claims that we research."

FactCheckNI's 2019 General Election fact-checks of parties across the political spectrum are a good example of how they do not concentrate on any one side to the exclusion of others. This is further borne out by the links supplied with their application, as well as scrutiny of the various other fact-checks published on their website.

Their online statement on nonpartisanship (https://factcheckni.org/about/nonpartisanship/) spells out this policy clearly.

"We fact-check claims using the same standard for every claim. We do not concentrate our fact-checking on any side of our communal or any other division. We follow the same process for every fact-check and let the evidence dictate our conclusions. We do not advocate nor take policy positions on the issues that we fact-check."

"Our fact-checked claim articles cover the political spectrum in Northern Ireland, and with claims by individual parties and their representatives both validated and rebuked; we publish the results of all claims that we research."

Our policy on nonpartisanship can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/nonpartisanship/

"Everyone involved at FactCheckNI ‐‐ volunteers, interns, committee members, team managers and the board ‐‐ work under the fundamental principles of impartiality, transparency and accuracy; these are reflected in our organisation’s Code of Conduct."

Our code of conduct can be read online here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uI59T2WpLLZ3VkZlAA-d3lTMadxkNX3_AUkMZAeZLGo/edit?usp=sharing

FactCheckNI's policy on non-partisanship (http://bit.ly/36UJLuT) which is available under the "About tab" of their website (https://factcheckni.org/) and their Code of Conduct (http://bit.ly/38XFhFR) are both clear and unequivocal on these issues.

There is also additional information in the FAQ (https://factcheckni.org/faq/) under the heading "What's your bias?" explaining the policy on impartiality.

Recommendation: Publish a link to the Code of Conduct Google document under the "About" tab on the home page. (http://bit.ly/38XFhFR) 

Our methods of fact checking can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/methods/

"We seek out sources of evidence that could contradict our developed conclusion, and we provide source links to all cited evidence that supports as well as refutes the claim."

FactCheckNI publishes the methods it uses for fact-checks in a "Methods" tab on the home page. The way they fact-heck is explained in clear, simple language.

They also link to all their sources that support and refute a claim.

"We seek out sources of evidence that could contradict our developed conclusion, and we provide source links to all cited evidence that supports as well as refutes the claim."

Our sources of funding can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/funding/

FactCheckNI identifies its sources of funding via the About tab on its home page. The details are clearly marked under the heading "Funding". 

https://factcheckni.org/about/funding/

Our staff profiles, including advisory board, can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/personnel/

The details of the people involved with FactChekNI - including its Advisory Group - are all identified with biographies in a section under the About tab, marked "Personnel", on the home page.

https://factcheckni.org/about/personnel/

Readers can contact us:

> Contact: https://factcheckni.org/contact/

> FAQ: https://factcheckni.org/faq/

There is a tab clearly marked "Contact" on the home page with an online form, making it easy to contact FactCheckNI. (https://factcheckni.org/contact/).

Our methods of fact checking can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/methods/

"We want our readers to be able to verify our findings themselves. We provide all sources in enough detail that readers can replicate our work, as much as possible. The following explains how we select, research, write, edit, publish, and correct our fact-checked claim articles. We encourage readers to send us claims to fact-check, as well as requests for corrections."

This explanation continues on the URL above.

The methods used by FactCheckNI are clearly spelled out on the "Methods" page https://factcheckni.org/about/methods/, which is accessible via the "About tab" on the home page. 

Readers can submit a suggested claim to be fact checked on the following online page: https://factcheckni.org/submit-claim/

The link to submit claims, as well as what can - and cannot - be fact-checked is clearly explained in the "Submit Claim" tab on the front page. (https://factcheckni.org/submit-claim/)

Recommendation: I suggest repeating the info, below, from the "Claim selection and research methods" explanation on the "Submit Claim" page. The reason is that some people submitting a claim for fact-checking might not have read the "Claim selection and research methods" section and not understand what can, and cannot, be fact-checked. By repeating the information, it will ensure that users are aware of it and will not end up frustrated - or worse - when their suggested fact-check is not taken up. 

"Claims that are researched by FactCheckNI are done so only with publicly available sources. In order for FactCheckNI to research a claim, the claim must be:

* a statement made in public, which can be attributed to a specific person (e.g. a politician or campaigner) or organisation (e.g. a report)

* an assertion or allegation that can be validated or refuted (to a degree)

* based on past or present actions (i.e. not speculative about the future)"

Our methods of fact checking can be read online here: https://factcheckni.org/about/methods/

"We welcome submission of further evidence, post-publication of any FactCheckNI article, whether it validates or refutes our conclusion. Where a correction to our article is required, we will do so with transparency. An updated article will be annotated as such at its header, with a description of the amendment in its footer."

FactCheckNI's corrections policy is spelled out under "Corrections" on the "Methods page", accessible via the "About" tab on the home page but requires additional clarification.

Recommendation:

Under "Corrections" add:

b) details of how complaints/corrections requests are handled, and how long the process usually takes;

c) how corrections are handled on social media platforms where they might also have been previously published. If social media is used to alert people to the corrected article posts/tweets should state whether it is a correction, update, clarification with a link to the article.

We received and processed X corrections to our fact-check articles in the past year:

> https://factcheckni.org/facts/were-city-deals-part-of-dups-confidence-and-supply-agreement/ (verdict revised)

> https://factcheckni.org/facts/are-there-40000-third-level-students-in-the-northwest-of-ireland/ (verdict unchanged)

> https://factcheckni.org/facts/is-there-51-support-for-ireland-unity/ (verdict revised)

> https://factcheckni.org/facts/is-northern-ireland-without-funded-childcare-provision/ (verdict unchanged)

Four examples of recent collections supplied, with examples of different findings: i.e. "verdict revised" and "verdict unchanged"