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://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/NI660549

https://factcheckni.org/about/

FactCheckNI CIC is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Northern Ireland at Companies House. Its Company Registration Number is NI660549). The company was established with the objective of improving 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 is reinvested in the company. 

Company files are lodged at Companies House and can be found here: See: https://bit.ly/3fQUsXg 

Details of the organization's legal status can be found on the "About" page - which explains the organisation's legal status and also includes a link to the Companies House listing.

FactCheckNI was initially established in 2015 as a response to the immediate need presented by the impact of online rumours and misinformation in further marginalising communities in Northern Ireland. Evidence from research conducted by managing director and co-founder, Dr Orna Young, found that information being shared on social media was having a detrimental impact on the nature of inter-communal relations. FactCheckNI was established as a direct response to this need.

There are two people who provide work to FactCheckNI, on a part-time basis: an executive director and an editor. They are complemented by three additional company directors and others in an advisory group. Furthermore, there are several volunteer researchers and commissioned writers. FactCheckNI

FactCheckNI provides the public with accurate, fair, and reliable fact-check and explainer articles. FactCheckNI provides training courses, events, and educational resources. FactCheckNI also provides consultancy services in the specialisation of fact checking, to individual clients and academic research projects.

FactCheckNI’s goals over the coming year include increasing our capacity to produce fact check articles and thus the volume of available fact checked information in Northern Ireland. We also want to build on our existing training offering, including blended learning (training with additional education support) and asynchronous training (e.g. modules that can be completed on a self-paced, individual basis). We continue to expand our fact-checking training into formal education settings.

1) FactCheckNI was initially established in 2015 "as a response to the immediate need presented by the impact of online rumours and misinformation in further marginalising communities in Northern Ireland. 

"Evidence from research conducted by managing director and co-founder, , found that information being shared on social media was having a detrimental impact on the nature of inter-communal relations. FactCheckNI was established as a direct response to this need."

2) There are two people who provide work to FactCheckNI, on a part-time basis: an executive director and an editor. They are complemented by three additional company directors and others in an advisory group. FactCheckNI also makes use of several volunteer researchers and commissioned writers.

3) "FactCheckNI provides the public with accurate, fair, and reliable fact-check and explainer articles. FactCheckNI provides training courses, events, and educational resources. FactCheckNI also provides consultancy services in the specialisation of fact-checking, to individual clients and academic research projects."

4) FactCheckNI’s goals over the coming year include increasing our capacity to produce fact-check articles and thus the volume of available fact-checked information in Northern Ireland.

5) "We also want to build on our existing training offering, including blended learning (training with additional education support) and asynchronous training (e.g. modules that can be completed on a self-paced, individual basis). We continue to expand our fact-checking training into formal education settings."

1. Are children who take a COVID-19 vaccine 52 times more likely to suffer an early death?

2. Is the UK ranked 14th in Europe for the number of asylum seekers it processes and accepts?

3. Do 20% of EU customs checks take place in the Irish Sea?

4. UUP manifesto - free school meals education attainment gap

5. SF manifesto - a result of the DUP’s collapse of the Executive there remains £334 million in unallocated funds which could have gone to alleviating some of the pressures facing workers and families.

6. Do nearly 30% of NI’s carbon emissions come from farming, compared with 10% in the rest of the UK?

7. Do 25 of NI’s 27 main ‘economic hubs’ have creaking water and sewage infrastructure that is holding back development?

8. SDLP Manifesto - the £20 universal credit cut marked the largest overnight welfare cut since WWII

9. Are 40,000 people in NI on the Housing Executive waiting list, with 30,000 of those in housing stress?

10. UUP voters going to give transfer votes to non-unionist parties ahead of other unionist parties?

11. UUP manifesto - over 40,000 people in Northern Ireland are on the NI 12. Housing Executive (NIHE) waiting list of whom 30,000 are in ‘housing stress’.

12. How is the NI Protocol affecting the local cost of living?

13. Do 140 people per year die while fishing in Irish waters?

14. Is the Belfast-Derry/Londonderry train no quicker than it was during Victorian times?

15. Is Belfast the most lucrative city in the UK for students’ landlords?

16. Do less than 0.03% of the population of Northern Ireland have a vote in the Conservative Party leadership election 2022?

17. When is 40.3 not higher than 39.6?

18. Is NI subject to EU fuel VAT rates, which cannot be reduced below 5%? 

19. Workers’ wages have decreased by 3.7% on average from May?

20. Is childcare the biggest cost for NI families, after housing?

21. Does Northern Ireland have the highest rate of infant mortality in Europe?

22. Have the courts said NI schools are discriminatory, and ordered them to stop indoctrinating pupils into Christianity?

23. Will £400m of unspent public funds be wiped out by a budget deficit?

24. Does the UK have more food banks than McDonald’s?

Fact-CheckNI submitted a list of 24 fact-checks on different issues as proof that it published at least one fact-check a week as required. I found that they have met the necessary criteria. See attached list of hyperlinked fact-checks.

An assessment of both fact-checks submitted with this application, as well as a random assessment of published fact-checks during the period under review reveals that FactCheckNI has exceeded the number of fact-checks required to be compliant.

On 1 April 2018, we were awarded a grant of 208,740 euros (c. £181,056) from the Horizon 2020 Programme at the European Commission. FactCheckNI is a full partner organisation of a research and development project — Co-inform — led by Stockholm University. The Co-inform project aims to create socio-technical solutions with citizens, journalists, and policymakers. The Co-inform project runs from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2021.

In May 2021, FactCheckNI was awarded £5,000 by the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland for Open Data: COVID-19 Facts; this project produced a number of fact-checked articles and infrographics, to provide the public with factually accurate information about the impacts of Covid-19 and the efforts being made to counter Covid-19.

FactCheckNI was awarded a grant of 208,740 euros on April 1, 2018, from the Horizon 2020 Programme at the European Commission. 

FactCheckNI is a full partner organisation of a research and development project — Co-inform — led by Stockholm University. This project aims to create socio-technical solutions with citizens, journalists, and policymakers and runs from 1 April 2018 to 30 June 2021.

In May 2021, FactCheckNI was awarded £5,000 by the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland for a project known as Open Data: COVID-19 Facts. The project produced a number of fact-checked articles and infographics that provided factually accurate information about the impacts of Covid-19, and the efforts being made to counter the virus.

See: https:///3OE9VcF 

FactCheckNI is transparent about its sources of funding, which are all published on its website.

It states unequivocally: "We are transparent about our funding sources. We ensure that funders have no influence over the conclusions that we reach in our fact-checks." See:  

The selection of our fact checks below demonstrate our consistent research methodology, including the discovery of primary sources, a thorough editorial review process, and publishing our conclusions, regardless of verdict (e.g. claims that are validated as well as rebuked).

It is also important to consider the nature of societal divisions and party structure in Northern Ireland, based mainly on national identities. This is also reflected in people’s choice of media. FactCheckNI works hard to ensure a broad coverage of political orientations, suggested by the following examples:

Is childcare the biggest cost for NI families, after housing? (DUP; British/Unionist party; political right)

Was the Tories’ £20 cut to Universal Credit the biggest overnight drop in welfare since World War II? (SDLP; Irish/Nationalist party; political centre-left)

Did average pay plummet by 3.7% in the three months from May? (Sinn Fein; Irish/Republican party; political left)

Are children entitled to free school meals 29 percentage points less likely than their peers to get good GCSEs? Has this attainment gap barely closed in over a decade? (UUP; British/Unionist; political right)

Do nearly 30% of NI’s carbon emissions come from farming, compared with 10% in the rest of the UK? (APNI; constitutionally agnostic; political centre)

Do 140 people per year die while fishing in Irish waters? (BBC NI; Radio programme; general audience)

Is Belfast the most lucrative city in the UK for students’ landlords? (Belfast Telegraph; newspaper; general audience)

Is childcare the biggest cost for NI families, after housing? (BBC NI; Radio programme; general audience)

Has the economy in Derry/Londonderry contracted 21% since 2007? (The Derry Journal; regional newspaper; general audience)

Does Northern Ireland spend least per pupil? (BBC News NI; Radio programme ; general audience)

FactCheckNI makes the point that it is important to consider the nature of societal divisions and party structure in Northern Ireland, based mainly on national identities. This is also reflected in people’s choice of media. FactCheckNI works hard to ensure broad coverage of political orientations, it says in its application. 

The (attached) examples of fact-checks submitted with this application confirm that the subjects and issues it has fact-checked span the full political, cultural, and religious spectrum found in Northern Ireland society.

From the application: "The selection of our fact checks demonstrates our consistent research methodology, including the discovery of primary sources, a thorough editorial review process, and publishing of our conclusions, regardless of the verdict (e.g. claims that are validated as well as rebuked)."

See "Commitment to Nonpartisanship and Fairness" https://bit.ly/3TVd7l7 

"No matter the claim, we use the same standard for every fact check. We follow the same process for every fact check and let the evidence dictate our conclusions. We do not concentrate our fact-checking on any one side or lobby. We do not advocate or take policy positions on the issues we fact-check.

See also "Commitment to Standards and Transparency of Methodology

"We explain the methodology we use to select, research, write, edit, publish and correct our fact checks. We look for and test evidence that will support and challenges claims that we investigate. We encourage readers to send us claims to fact-check and are transparent on why and how we fact-check." https://bit.ly/3TVd7l7 

See: "Reflecting" https://bit.ly/3hXJDpm

On a quarterly basis — and sometimes more often during election periods — FactCheckNI staff and directors will consider the mix of topics being fact-checked, and whether a range of political claims is being addressed. While we strive for breadth and balance, we are aware that particular circumstances (a health pandemic or a particularly combative politician) can understandably skew that sense of balance."

"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.” https://bit.ly/3TVd7l7 

Commitment to Nonpartisanship and Fairness: "No matter the claim, we use the same standard for every fact check. We follow the same process for every fact check and let the evidence dictate our conclusions. We do not concentrate our fact-checking on any one side or lobby. We do not advocate or take policy positions on the issues we fact-check.": See https://bit.ly/3TVd7l7

FactCheckNI's fact-checking process, including how it chooses claims to investigate, protocols in place to prevent bias or undue concentration on only one side is clearly spelled out on its website: See process: https:///3hXJDpm 

Having undertaken a random assessment of Fact-CheckNI fact-checks conducted over the past 12 months I am satisfied that FactCheckNI meets the required criteria, which requires consideration of the reach and importance of claims it selects to check. It also discloses on its website how it selects claims to check.

See "Claim Selection": 

I am satisfied that FactCheckNI discloses the relevant interests of the sources it quotes in its fact checks, where a reader might reasonably conclude those interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence they provide. It also discloses in its fact-checks any commercial or other such relationships that a member of the public might reasonably conclude could influence the findings of the fact-check.

On the website page that explains our commitment to the IFCN Code of Principles, we declare: “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.”

In this statement there is a further link to our organisation’s Code of Conduct.

https://factcheckni.org/about/code-of-principles/

https://factcheckni.org/about/policies/code-of-conduct/

FactcheckNI's commitment to the IFCN Code of Principles is made clear on its website.  

It says: "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.” - See  

Having done a random assessment of published fact-checks, I am satisfied that FactCheckNI adequately identifies its sources, and also links to those that are available online. This makes it possible for users to users to replicate the fact-check. In cases where identifying the source could compromise their personal security, I am satisfied that enough information is provided to establish the credibility and expertise of the source on the fact-checked issue.

Based on a random assessment of published fact-checks, I am satisfied that FactCheckNI uses the best available primary. In instances where suitable primary sources are not available, they explain the use of a secondary source.

I am satisfied that FactCheckNI does not publish single-source fact-checks. Based on a random assessment of published fact-checks, I found they use more than one named source of evidence unless a source is the only one relevant to the topic.

I am satisfied that FactCheckNI identifies any relevant interests a source may have, particularly where a reader might conclude that these interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided in a fact-check.

Independent organisation; see attached file.

FactCheckNI is an indepenent organsiation. (See 1.1 for proof of registration). See also Companies House listing:  

FactCheckNI CIC - Certificate Incorporation - attached.

Information about FactCheckNI sources of funding is published online: https://factcheckni.org/about/funding/

FactCheckNI CIC is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Northern Ireland at Companies House (Company Registration Number: NI660549). The company has declared itself as a non-profit, Community Interest Company (CIC), where all generated surplus income is reinvested in the company.

Details of the organisation's registration and legal status can be found on the "About" page - - which explains the organisation's legal status and also includes a link to the Companies House listing:  

At FactCheckNI, there are two regular workers that make up the senior management team, which works in a collaborative style. The primary responsibilities of each are provided in the professional biographies published online. Editorial policy is explained in our fact-checking process, which is published online. Articles are compiled by the editor, then reviewed by at least one other member of the team before publishing. More complex or politically sensitive topics will be forwarded to a third person. The senior management team is complemented by two additional company directors and an advisory group, with details of all published online.

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

https://factcheckni.org/about/process/

FactCheckNI has two full-time workers that make up its senior management team. The senior management team is complemented by two additional company directors and an advisory group. See  and  

The primary responsibilities of each are provided in the professional biographies published online.  
See also:  

There is also a full list of fact-check authors, most of whom are freelancers:  

The editorial policy is explained online in FactCheckNI (See "Process": https://bit.ly/3hXJDpm)

"Fact-check articles are compiled by the editor and then reviewed by at least one other member of the team before publication. More complex or politically sensitive topics are forwarded to a third person for further review."

FactCheckNI states on its site that it has full editorial control over what it fact-checks and what it concludes in its findings.

There are two people who provide work to FactCheckNI, on a part-time basis: an executive director and an editor.
They are complemented by three additional company directors and others in an advisory group. There are also several volunteer researchers and commissioned writers.

Our website’s Contact page describes how people can contact us with general queries, claim queries, media queries, and volunteering queries.

https://factcheckni.org/contact/

People can contact FactCheckNI via a "Contact" tab in the navigation bar across the top of all the website pages. The contact page has details of how to contact them for general queries, claim queries, media queries, and volunteering queries. See: https://bit.ly/3EWEO8P 

Next to the contact tab is a prominent "submit a claim" tab that takes readers to a page where there is a form to submit a claim for fact-checking. This page also includes an explanation of what they can, and cannot, fact-check. See: https://bit.ly/3AQBoSu 

FactCheckNI is also active on several social media platforms: they are FB, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon.

Our fact-checking methodology is explained online: https://factcheckni.org/about/process/

FactCheckNI's website clearly explains its methodology, including its claim selection, research, and rating systems. It also explains the editorial workflow and responsibilities.

I am satisfied that FactChekNI selects claims to check based primarily on the reach and importance of the claims, and where possible explains the reason for choosing the claim to check. 

I am satisfied that FactCheckNI presents evidence that both supports the claim, as well as any evidence that might undermine it.

I am satisfied that all claims are treated equally, using the same standards no matter who made the claim.

Based on a random assessment of published fact-checks, I am satisfied that, where possible, FaxctCheckNI makes an attempt to contact whoever made the claim to seek supporting evidence.

FactCheckNI response:

FactCheckNI’s process of claim selection is explained in both our fact-checking process webpage and on our online claim submission form:

https://factcheckni.org/about/process/

https://factcheckni.org/claims

FactCheckNI’s process of claim selection is explained in both it fact-checking process webpage (https://bit.ly/3hXJDpm) and in its online claim submission form: https://bit.ly/3AQBoSu 

FactCheckNI response:

FactCheckNI’s correction policy is explained online: https://factcheckni.org/about/process/

"Our process is rigorous and aims to ensure that our published work is as accurate as possible. But we recognise that mistakes can happen. Post-publication of any FactCheckNI article, we welcome receiving further evidence, whether it refutes or validates our conclusion. New evidence will be promptly considered by the editorial team. Where appropriate, we will strive to update an article within 24 hours. We are transparent about updates and signpost this in any amended article (often noting that there has been an update near the start, with a description of the change within the main body of the text or at the end).

"When we publish significant amendments or updates to FactCheckNI articles on our website (other than correcting spelling mistakes or rewording a phrase for clarity), we also republish notifications on our social media channels, with a clear labelling of the updated status of the fact-checked article if the verdict has changed."

See "Corrections":  

I am satisfied that FactCheckNI's corrections policy meets the required IFCN criteria

Fact-Check NI says in its application that it has not published any corrections during the period under review for this assessment.

https://factcheckni.org/about-us/code-of-principles/

In its Code of Principles - see https://bit.ly/3u4pYqx FactCheckNI says: "The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) is a forum for fact-checkers worldwide. IFCN publishes a Code of Principles, which is a series of commitments that organisations abide by to promote excellence in fact-checking.

FactCheckNI is a verified signatory of the code. We display a badge of verification on our homepage and throughout our website. You can read our applications and assessments of our compliance on the IFCN Code of Principles website.

If you wish to report a violation of the code by FactCheckNI to the IFCN, you can do so here. (The word here hyperlinks to IFCN's "Complaints Policy" page where people can submit their complaints. https://bit.ly/2S4TNok