Tech4Peace is a registered Not-for-profit Corporation in Iraq with the name "Technology Organization for Peace" and is also registered as a for-profit company in the Netherlands under the name "Tech4Peace". On our website, it is easy to find information about the organization’s legal status as you have to navigate to "Who we are،" and "About us", see the link: https://t4p.co/about/about-us?lang=en

Information provided for the English website.

We had to look for the Arabic website as the link is not provided by the applicant. The required information is provided. 

1. When and why was your fact-checking operation started?

In the summer of 2014, ISIS-occupied Mosul, the second-largest city in Iraq. It is widely believed that one of the main reasons for the terrorist organization to achieve such rapid advancement was the launch of an intensive media campaign before the military attack aimed at discouraging the morale of security forces and citizens alike by spreading false information and exaggerating their numbers. The result was visible; ISIS took over the city.

During that time, a small group of friends tried to act by using their private accounts on social media (Facebook and Twitter) to Defeat ISIS rumors and propaganda, but to no avail because they were small in number. Also, the risk of being identified and targeted by ISIS elements, especially after ISIS advanced toward the center of Baghdad and Erbil, grew as an existential threat to the entire country.

In April 2016, the idea of establishing a platform to disprove extremists' ideology, hatred, speeches, and propaganda on social media platforms was developed. We trained a group of youth volunteers to falsify rumors and deactivate accounts that are supported or run by ISIS members under the name of "Technology for Peace (Tech4Peace)".

Since then, the team has grown exponentially, and the field of work has been broadened. Not only fake news from ISIS is exposed, but all kinds of fake news of groups, organizations, and individuals from Iraq and outside Iraq can also be the source of investigation now.

2. How many people work or volunteer in the organization, and what are their roles?

Tech4Peace team consists of 265 members, and their geographical distribution inside and outside Iraq has directly contributed to carrying out many tasks, they do not work in a similar way of a searching method for an ongoing investigation or a specific piece of news. Tech4Peace has recruited many members according to a specific specialization or the person’s position and his ability to access accurate information or well-known person with his relations to benefit from it by obtaining more information.

These tasks of team members have been divided into six teams, and these teams include:

1- Follow-up and research team: This team is responsible for finding news on social media platforms and various internet websites that must be checked and verified, in addition to following up on inquiries and questions of Tech4Peace followers on different social media accounts and e-mails.

2- Investigation team: This team is the largest group of volunteers. The team checks the news to check the authenticity or not, the investigation team examines the allegations received from the follow-up and research team to start the investigations.

3. IT and design team: When the fact-checking process is completed, the IT and Design team will design the publication. The team also designs photos and videos to use in awareness campaigns. The IT department of this team works on ideas to develop the website and mobile app, and to protect the website and our accounts on social media platforms from hacking and other digital security issues.

4. Translation team: The translation team is responsible for translating the news that is in the verification phase of the allegations so that the investigation team can carry out the investigation. We translate and investigate news and allegations in the following nine languages: Arabic, Kurdish, Turkmen, Turkish, Persian, English, French, Italian, and Dutch.

The verified investigations would be published in Arabic on our website and translated again into English to publish on our website in the English version.

5. Social media team: The social media team is responsible for publishing completed fact-checking investigations. All investigations are published on the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Telegram, and the website.

6. Management team: The management team is responsible for developing the entire Tech4Peace organization. They are responsible for building a network of public contacts for local and international organizations and companies and meetings with the media.

Furthermore, there are five administrators. They check the articles before they are published. They are from different teams and have different backgrounds.

3. What different activities does your organization carry out?

• Fact-checking investigations: the main activity of Tech4Peace is fact-checking itself.

• Campaigns: Tech4Peace also makes campaigns to raise awareness about fake news and digital security.

• Training: Tech4Peace trains its volunteer team to get more advanced. Furthermore, we train new volunteers to become part of our team. We also organize training for local and international organizations about fact-checking.

4. What are the goals of your fact-checking operation over the coming year?

In the coming year, we will work further on our mission to make everyone Tech4Peace so that everyone is aware of fake news and become critical of the news they read. We will do that by working on the following goals:

• To renew IFCN network membership.

• Add a new MOOC for E-learning platform.

• Fewer mistakes in our investigations.

• New partners and projects.

• 3rd partner with Meta.

Required information provided and verified

More than 5 posts per week, kindly visit https://t4p.co/

The applicant publishes at least one story per week over the last 6 months

The attached Excel sheet includes 30 examples and indicates the category and classification of the articles.

Most stories are of public interest for Iraqis

Tech4Peace has no relationship with politicians and/or parties in Iraq and has not received any support from them. We believe that this is very important to stay independent.

Our vision and mission state clearly Our work is to promote peace through defeating fake news and spreading awareness, so from these points come our projects.

We have worked on many projects to promote peace in Iraq,

including the Salam project with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to train youths to carry out social media campaigns to tackle pressing issues in the country,

The project timeline was "Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Måndag Company – 2021.

Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Måndag company – 2022.

Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Måndag company – 2023.

Here are some outputs of the project:

1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wdj_ZBscDX8

2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvA9LJM6bIQ

3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM2PYv5Icfs

Also, with Iraqi Amal Association - Al Namaa Center for Human Rights – 2019 under the name "Secure Yourself" aiming to spread awareness campaign, 10 videos for digital protection.

As we explained in the Purpose of Corporation, we try to focus on the importance of digital security and build awareness of how to protect yourself and your privacy online.

So these were the outcomes of the project:

1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONxUOcj2Yvg

2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mv3FCuvSFQ

3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXUUKW5uREM

The projects we worked on didn't have any kind of effect on the standards of Tech4Peace work nor any influence on the editorial line of Tech4Peace.

All information regarding funding was provided

Kindly visit: https://t4p.co/about/donate-grants?lang=en

We have marked this criterion as Complaint although the details of funding were provided seperatly and not on both sites.

The applicant asked for a waiver which can understandable despite that some of details on funds already exist on the Fb page.

At Tech4Peace, we choose our team members carefully following a high level of criteria to ensure that our team is independent and will investigate all claims with the same level of professionalism.

Each investigation goes through many teams to be published on our platforms, as the way explained in our methodology, and every step has different people from different backgrounds originally. In this way, we make sure that every investigation on our platforms has an acceptance by all team members.

- Post against Muqtada Sadr we expose it in the link:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-02-24-alsadr-elections?lang=en

In the same context, we expose Muqtada Sadr’s follower’s link:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-20-truth-about-statement-muqtada-alsadr?lang=en

- Post published against Saudi Arabia:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-02-28-death-of-saudi-king-salman-bin-abdulaziz?lang=en

We expose posts published against Iran:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-18-passport-of-soleimani?lang=en

We expose posts published against Türkiye:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-14-iraqi-oil-exchange-turkish-water?lang=en

- We expose posts published against Sunnis in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-15-mohammed-alhalbousi?lang=en

- We expose posts published against Shiites in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-02-28-sistani-office--imam-mahdi?lang=en

- We expose posts published against Yezidis in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-28-alrahman-mosque-sinjar?lang=en

- We expose posts published against YezidisChristianity:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-09-pope-francis?lang=en

- Expose post against a demonstration in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-06-saint-lego?lang=en

Expose post with the demonstration in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-26-child-ahmed-alfawaz?lang=en

- Expose something related to the U.S in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-05-08-alina-romanowski?lang=en

This post is different:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-22-donald-trump?lang=en

- Expose post published against Israel

https://t4p.co/article/2023-02-10-export-oil-iraq?lang=en

Expose post published against Palestine

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-16-hashem-kamel?lang=en

- Situation in Iraq:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-23-the-federal-court?lang=en

- In another country:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-11-the-ukrainian-city-mariupol?lang=en

- In the U.S.A:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-03-22-donald-trump?lang=en

This post is different:

https://t4p.co/article/2023-02-24-countdown-on-russian-channels?lang=en

Applicant using same standards when dealing with different political figures and entities 

Please, see on the Methodology page how we choose the claims and how we give priority to these claims https://t4p.co/about/Methodology?lang=en

Information exists on both websites

Sources are well explained 

Applicant doesn't appear to belong or advocate any political entity

Please, see the first paragraph on https://t4p.co/about/transparency-policy?lang=en

Policy exists on both sites 

"Since the first working day of the Tech4Peace team, we have committed to providing the sources of the investigations that we are working on, which were published on our page with the posts so that our audience themselves can check the source and review the investigations that we worked on to ensure the credibility of the investigations that supported by the sources, and due to the low public reach, we started to put the links of sources for investigations as well as links of the accounts and pages that spread false allegations in the comments for the same post.

After the last update of the Tech4Peace website on February 26, 2021. We have worked on developing and adding more smooth features, including providing a source links section under the article, in addition to the fake news claimers links also under the article,

for more information, see the link: https://t4p.co/about/sources?lang=en

Links are provided in both sites

To see how Tech4Peace deals with the sources, please visit the link: https://t4p.co/about/sources?lang=en

Primary sources are widely used 

In many stories, more than one source is used. 

Followed to a certain extent. Could be better done but we choose to mark the criterion as Compliang due to thd rigorous methodology.

Tech4Peace is an independent organization.

All information regarding funding was provided in a seperate sheet. No details of the funds on the websites.

The applicant asked to waive this criterion and to accept the seperate document which we support.

"Iraq is low ranked regarding freedom of speech/expression. See https://freedomhouse.org/country/iraq. Especially talking about any relation with foreign organizations and institutions, see for example, these videos of people who announced they were sponsored by international organizations:

Therefore, it would be too dangerous for us to put all our funders on our website.

The NGO directorate, a body which is part of the General Secretariat for the Council of Ministers for the Government of Iraq, monitors us: http://www.ngoao.gov.iq/, every year, we provide them with a financial report including our funds."

Plus, we explained in a larger scope the reason for not publishing about our funders in a letter, and all the funding details and all necessary documents are sent to IFCN.

We accept the justification given by the applicant

Kindly visit: https://t4p.co/about/our-structure?lang=en

All knformation detailed on both websites

On our website, you can find the biography of our founder and president of Tech4Peace and the spokesperson and his work with the editorial line of Tech4 Peace https://t4p.co/about/our-team?lang=en

Bios published

Kindly visit the link: https://t4p.co/about/contact-us?lang=en

The call to the readers is clear

Kindly visit the web page: https://t4p.co/about/Methodology?lang=en

Link provided

Claims seem to be chosen of public interest. In some stories reasons of choice were indicated.

Evidence are provided 

Same standards applied

In some stories, sources were contacted by the applicant.

Our followers send us claims every day to fact-check. We follow up with all inquiries and reply with a message that we will fact-check it, according to the guideline we’ve made on our website to reach us what do we fact-check and we don’t: https://t4p.co/about/contact-us?lang=en

Link provided. Details on what readers can expect and which claims cannot be verified are included in both websites

Tech4Peace exists to offer accurate and true information with sources so that people can make up their minds about claims. We’re grateful to anyone who takes the time to help us improve our work. For more information about our correction policy, please visit the link: https://t4p.co/about/corrections-policy?lang=en

Tech4Peace exists to offer accurate and true information with sources so that people can make up their minds about claims. We’re grateful to anyone who takes the time to help us improve our work. For more information about our correction policy, please visit the link: https://t4p.co/about/corrections-policy?lang=en

The correction policy is well explained but no mention of any complaint policy. This needs to be added.

The correction policy is well explained but no mention of any complaint policy. This needs to be added.

Update

Required changes were made

https://t4p.co/about/corrections-policy?lang=en

The policy is clear

Tech4Peace exists to offer accurate and true information with sources so that people can make up their minds about claims. We’re grateful to anyone who takes the time to help us improve our work.

Mistakes sometimes happen due to high pressure. Tech4Peace corrects errors as quickly as possible and with appropriate transparency. Readers and others can bring errors to our attention by emailing info@t4p.co or contacting us on our accounts on social media platforms. We may not respond in cases where the request for correction is baseless or unwarranted.

Major errors of fact – A serious error that results in new information or otherwise changes the general outlook of the fact-check will be removed from our platforms, and we will publish an apology for the previous mistake accompanied by the new fact-check using our apology template

The text of the fact-check is updated with the new information. Corrected fact-checks will be added on our "Corrections Policy" section on the website

Errors of fact – Errors of fact that do not impact the original information or do not change the general outlook of the fact-check receive a mark of correction at the bottom of the fact-check with a word update or edit and add the time and date of the edit.

The text of the fact-check is updated with the new information. The correction states the correct information that has been added to the report.

Typos, grammatical errors, misspellings – We correct typos, grammatical errors, misspellings, transpositions, and other small errors without a mark of correction or tag and as soon as they are brought to our attention by our team or our audience.

Updates – From time to time, we add additional information to stories and fact-checks after they’ve been published, not as a correction but as a service to readers. Examples include a response from the speaker we received after publication (that did not change the conclusion of the report), or breaking news after publication that is relevant to the check. Updates can be made parenthetically within the text with a date or at the end of the article.

We notify our group of volunteers about the mistake they have done to avoid it next time and pay extra attention. Interestingly, our margin of error is less than 1%.

Tech4Peace works with complete transparency and encourages the correction and apology to the public for any mistake that may occur, and it may be an oversight because of pressures or mixing up due to a large number of claims and sources. Therefore, at the end of each year, when we publish the statistics, we put the number of the errors in the statistics, and not only that, rather we put the links to errors or/and modifications and updates that we have made on this page. These are all errors since the beginning of the establishment of the Tech4Peace team:

On May 11, 2023, we updated an article by removing the word (mechanics engineering) and replacing it with (Aircraft mechanics).

Edit time: 11:49 AM, Edit date 11/05/2023

https://t4p.co/story/2023-05-11-truth-about-explosion-of-iraqi-plane

On May 7, 2023, we updated an article by correcting the month name from (July to April) in the following sentence: Also, Kambash denied the circulated claim in a post on Facebook on July 14, 2023" to "Also, Kambash denied the circulated claim in a post on Facebook on April 14, 2023"

Edit time: 06:36 PM, Edit date: 05/07/2023.

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-15-asma-kambash-taqadum

On April 25, 2023, we updated an article by adding the following paragraph, "We also contacted the official page of the Anbar Governorate Police Command on Facebook, and they confirmed that the news was false." Where the fact-check was published based on other sources and facts, and upon receiving the response of the concerned party days after publishing the investigation, the source mentioned above was added.

Edit time: 06:00 PM, Edit date: 04/25/2023.

https://t4p.co/article/2023-04-21-hadi-razij?lang=en

Corrections are clear in stories initially published with mistakes

Kindly visit: https://t4p.co/about/ifcn?lang=en

Kindly visit: https://t4p.co/about/ifcn?lang=en

IFCN is explained in a seperate page. However no mention of the possibility for readers to complain. 

IFCN is explained in a seperate page. However no mention of the possibility for readers to complain. 

Update 

Required changes were made

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