Organization: FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
Applicant: Rakesh Dubbudu
Assessor: Surekha Deepak
Edits made by the organization after this assessment
IFCN Staff wrote:
Factly is a registered for-profit entity and has multiple sources of revenue as updated in this page (https://factly.in/faqs/). Among the revenue streams are our revenue partnerships with technology companies in lieu of services offered to them. We have signed NDAs with some of them that prevent us from divulging the exact nature of partnership and the services offered. As an update to our renewal application for the IFCN CoP, here is what we are saying about our sources of revenue (since we are a for-profit)
Investment from Founders
Small Research projects on Open Data
Subscription Revenue from readers
Consulting assignments & Training on Open Data, Data Journalism
Factly receives funding (revenue) in lieu of Fact-Checking services offered, from Facebook.
Factly receives funding (revenue) in lieu of services offered, from Sharechat and Alphabet.
Note: Funding from Alphabet is not associated with Factly's participation in the open-source ClaimReview standard
Conclusion and recommendations
Surekha Deepak wrote:
The signatory has compiled with all criteria quite clearly and can be accepted.
The website is a private digital network and has been fact checking regularly over the last 3 months. They post an average of 5 stories per day. Some of the stories are posted in the regional language Telugu, and it has not been possible to read them to analyse the procedure followed.
Factly picks up stories that appear on social media and have verified and published them in an impartial manner.
All key sources are linked and identified.
Details of funding are clearly defined. Team members are clearly listed and there is a form for readers to contact the organisation.
The website explains its fact checking methodology. It’s corrections policy is defined.Though they claim they have not had to publish any corrections only updates.
Surekha Deepak recommended Accept
Section 1: Organization
Criterion 1a
Proof of registration
Evidence required: Please provide evidence that the signatory is a legally-registered organization set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking or the distinct fact-checking project of a recognized media house or research institution.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Factly, registered as Factly Media & Research is a partnership firm and has been in existence since 2016. Factly has a dedicated Fact Checking project that can be accessed from the main menu on the website. This application is for renewal since the validity of the earlier assessment is ending in November 2019.
Partners of the firm are 'Rakesh Kumar Dubbudu' and 'Sahitya Reddi Sunkireddi'
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
The company is registered under the partnership act. It states clearly that Factly is a dedicated fact checking project.
done_all 1a marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 1b
Archive
Evidence required: Insert a link to the archive of fact checks published in the previous three months. If you do not collect all fact checks in one place, please explain how the fact-checking is conducted by your organization.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Factly regularly does fact-checks on a wide variety of issues & topics. These include claims made by politicians or any claims made on government rules or policies, manipulated images/videos that can cause real world harm, misinformation on miracle cure or health related misinformation, misinformation that denigrates or glorifies well known personalities, individuals etc.
All our fact-check articles are available on a dedicated link that can be accessed from the main menu of the organization’s website. The articles are listed by date of publishing. The following are the links to the entire archive.
Fake News URL: https://factly.in/category/fake-news/
Fact Check category URL: https://factly.in/category/fact-check/
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
Fully compliant. They have been publishing more than the required number of stories over the last 3 months.They are publishing stories in the regional language Telugu as well.
done_all 1b marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Section 2: Nonpartisanship and Fairness
Criterion 2a
Body of work sample
Evidence required: Please share links to ten fact checks that better represent the scope and consistency of your fact-checking. Provide a short explanation of how your organization strives to maintain coherent standards across fact checks.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
We consistently make efforts to fact-check claims which are made by the government or the major politicians and also claims made in general on government rules or policies, manipulated images/videos that can cause real world harm, misinformation on miracle cure or health related misinformation, misinformation that denigrates or glorifies well known personalities, individuals etc.
We do around 100 fact checks every month as listed in the archive links. The scope of fact checks in terms of the wide variety is given below with the help of examples.
We have a detailed methodology that is meticulously followed for every fact check. The sources for fact check are government sources and other credible sources. Each of the source/evidence is hyperlinked and attached in the fact check. The rating methodology is also more or less standardized.
To fact-check claims and represent data in easily understandable formats, we use charts, comparison and graphs etc. The methodology & sources are consistent across all our articles on diverse claims.
Few examples are here
Claims on Government Schemes & Policies
https://factly.in/do-not-send-dds-to-kanak-enterprises-there-is-no-gram-vikas-rozgar-yojana-scheme/
https://factly.in/there-is-no-such-scooty-yojana-scheme-launched-by-the-modi-government/
https://factly.in/fact-check-3-minute-waiting-rule-toll-plazas-national-highways/
Claims made by Political Leaders or Parties
https://factly.in/fact-check-how-true-are-government-claims-about-fdi-flows/
https://factly.in/fact-check-how-much-did-the-modi-government-pay-for-the-upa-era-oil-bonds/
https://factly.in/fact-check-are-more-people-travelling-in-airplanes-than-in-ac-trains/
https://factly.in/media-misinterpreted-misreported-pms-statements-passports/
https://factly.in/fact-check-rahul-gandhis-claims-telangana-public-meeting/
https://factly.in/fact-check-in-whose-tenure-did-msp-increase-by-a-greater-percentage/
https://factly.in/fact-check-have-deposits-by-indians-in-swiss-banks-decreased/
Medical Related/Miracle Cure related claims
https://factly.in/paracetamol-p-500-pills-containing-machupo-virus-is-just-a-hoax/
https://factly.in/telugu-polio-vaccine-is-safe-to-use/
Video or Images that can lead to real world harm
https://factly.in/ఒడిషా-లో-పట్టుబడ్డ-కిడ్/
https://factly.in/హర్యానా-సంఘటన-కి-సంబందిం/
Misleading Images or Videos
https://factly.in/old-photoshopped-image-of-modi-bowing-down-to-saudi-king-is-being-shared-again/
https://factly.in/no-indian-millionaire-showered-100000-to-celebrate-modis-victory-in-new-york/
https://factly.in/the-picture-in-the-post-is-not-cobra-flower-it-is-a-sea-creature-known-as-sea-pen/
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
The fact checks are mainly social media posts and there does not seem to be a bias with reference to the stories they have chosen to fact check.
done_all 2a marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 2b
Nonpartisanship policy
Evidence required: Please share evidence of your policy preventing staff from direct involvement in political parties and advocacy organizations. Please also indicate the policy your organization has as a whole regarding advocacy and supporting political candidates.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Every employee of Factly is briefed at the time of joining about our nonpartisanship policy. The following paragraph is part of the offer letter of employees.
‘Factly Media & Research is a non-partisan organization that is not affiliated to any political party and is not involved in any political or advocacy related work. As an employee of this organization, you are expected to follow this policy and not involve yourself in the activities of any political party or any advocacy organization. In case of any clarification, you are requested to contact your reporting Manager’
As an organization, we remain committed to objectivity and nonpartisanship. Our Fact Checks do not contain opinions of any sort, but simply state facts. We also ensure that anyone being recruited into fact-check team does not have any affiliation with political parties and advocacy organizations. On a case to case basis, people's support to causes is reviewed so that it is in conformity with our policies.
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Potential employees are asked to remain objective and not have any affiliations. They say make this clear at the recruitment stage and even in the offer letter.
done_all 2b marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Section 3: Transparency of Sources
Criterion 3a
Sources Policy
Please share a brief and public explanation (500 words max) of how sources are provided in enough detail that readers could replicate the fact check. If you have a public policy on how you find and use sources for your fact-checking, it should be shared here.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Each & every Fact Check story contain hyperlinks to public (government) data sources or links to documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Legislation or links to relevant news stories, images or videos, all from credible sources. For fact checking claims related to political leaders & government, Factly uses only public (government) data/information for the purpose of fact checking. We do not use data/information from any private source (except for global & respected multilateral organizations) for such fact checks.
The claim source is also hyperlinked (like a press release, relevant government website, relevant social media message, news story, video etc). We also reach out to relevant government officials, public representatives etc. if there is a need. These sources are adequate for any reader to fact check the claim themselves. The detailed methodology is on the website (https://factly.in/factchecking-methodology/)
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
Most key sources are available on line, links are to the official tweets and data is linked.
done_all 3a marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Section 4: Transparency of Funding & Organization
Criterion 4a
Funding Sources
Evidence required: Please link to the section where you publicly list your sources of funding (including, if they exist, any rules around which types of funding you do or don't accept), or a statement on ownership if you are the branch of an established media organization or research institution.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Factly is a registered for-profit organization & the Fact-Checking project is part of this for-profit entity. Our current sources of funding include the following.
- Investment from Partners
- Small Research projects on Open Data
- Subscription Revenue from readers
- Consulting assignments & Training on Open Data/Data Journalism
- Partnership with Facebook
- Partnerships with other Technology firms
We have Non-disclosure agreements (NDA) with some of our partners both about the nature of the agreement and the specifics of the agreement. Where ever there are no such constraints, we provide the relevant information.
The details are also in the public domain here (https://factly.in/faqs/)
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The sources of funding are listed as below. However details are not available.
✔ Initial investment from the founders
✔ Consulting & small research project assignments on Open Data
✔ Grants for specific projects
✔ Subscriptions from readers
done 4a marked as Partially compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 4b
Staff
Evidence required: Please link to the section detailing all authors and key actors behind your fact-checking project with their biographies. You can also list the name and bios of the members of the editorial board, pool of experts, advisory board, etc. if your organization has those.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Details of the authors and the team behind the Fact Check project are listed here
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
The Team members are clearly listed and profiled.
done_all 4b marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 4c
Contact
Evidence required: Please link to the section where readers can get in touch with the organization.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The page has an e-mail ID and also a WhatsApp helpline number where readers can get in touch and also submit claims
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The email, and a whatsApp number is listed for readers to contact them with complaints or comments.
done_all 4c marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Section 5: Transparency of Methodology
Criterion 5a
Detailed Methodology
Evidence required: Please link to a section or article detailing the steps you follow for your fact-checking work.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The methodology can be accessed from the About Us section on the main menu
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The methodology is explained on the website.
done_all 5a marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 5b
Claim submissions
Evidence required: Please link to the page or process through which readers can submit claims to fact-check. If you do not allow this, please briefly explain why.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The page has an e-mail ID and also a WhatsApp helpline number where readers can get in touch and also submit claims
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
They ask readers to fill a form if they would like any information fact checked. An email and whatsappp number is also provided for readers to submit claims to be fact checked.
done_all 5b marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Section 6: Open & Honest Corrections Policy
Criterion 6a
Corrections policy
Evidence required: Please link to the page with your policy to address corrections. If it is not public, please share your organization's handbook.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
The corrections policy is listed both on the Contact page (https://factly.in/contact/) as well as the Fact-Check methodology page (https://factly.in/factchecking-methodology/) page. It also has an email ID for sending corrections.
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
The corrections policy is clearly listed but there are no instances of corrections published.
done_all 6a marked as Fully compliant by Surekha Deepak.
Criterion 6b
Examples of corrections
Evidence required: Please provide two examples of a correction made, or correction requests handled, in the past year.
FACTLY MEDIA & RESEARCH
25-Sep-2019 (5 years ago) Updated: 5 years ago
Our Fact Check articles have never received any corrections to be specific. However, there have been occasions where readers have sent us updates (not corrections) and the same has been updated in the stories after verification. Examples are below
https://factly.in/banks-are-not-continuously-closed-from-26th-september-2019-to-30th-september-2019/
https://factly.in/no-swedish-newspaper-has-published-the-story-narrated-in-the-post/
https://factly.in/raja-singhs-sister-has-not-accepted-islam-as-being-claimed/
https://factly.in/fact-check-3-minute-waiting-rule-toll-plazas-national-highways/
Surekha Deepak Assessor
10-Oct-2019 (5 years ago)
The corrections policy is clearly listed but there are no instances of corrections published. They do have stories which have been updated.