The Logical Indian Fact Check is a part of The Logical Indian, a digital media organisation. The Logical Indian is a part of 5W1H Media Private Limited with its registered office in Bangalore, India. Started in 2013, the company is founded by Abhishek Mazumdar (Co-Founder) and Anurag Mazumdar (Co-Founder).

The company is currently bootstrapped and generates revenue through online ads and sponsored articles. We promote limited and only socially relevant ads, and all such content is tagged as ‘Sponsored’ to clearly distinguish it from a regular article on the website.

The Logical Indian Fact-Check Team is independent of other editorial operations of the company and engages in fact-checking the stories and busting misinformation in mainstream and social media. This team reports directly to Abhishek Mazumdar, Chief Executive Officer of the company.

The link with documents verifying that The Fact Check team is a distinct team and the organisation it is part of a legal entity can be found here:

https://thelogicalindian.com/about/owershipandfunding

The applicant, The Logical Indian Fact Check is part of The Logical Indian, a digital media organization, which, in turn, is a unit of 5W1H media, registered legally. The information is available on its website. 

1. The Logical Indian Fact Check division was set up on February 1, 2016. As the internet became cheaper in India, there was a sudden rise in the no. of misinformation and disinformation being circulated on social networking sites and communication platforms like WhatsApp. The fake news was not just being peddled by netizens on social media but mainstream media had also started to become a major source of much fake news. Seeing the need, The Logical Indian started its fact-checking division, with an intention to fact-check the claims made by politicians or public figures, the news reported by mainstream media and health-related fake news.

2. Currently, The Fact Check Team has two full-time employees and an intern. One person is the editor and another one is the writer, who fact-checks information. The editor also does the work of going through requests on WhatsApp from the readers who want to get certain information verified and assign them to the writer. Intern writes articles on the platform. The editor and writer also do regular videos busting fake information for the consumption of millennials.

3. Apart from fact-checking information, The Logical Indian Fact Check team does media literacy programs in schools and colleges across India for free. Understanding the need of making people aware of the ways they can verify information, the workshops are being done. A media literacy program goes a long way in the fight against fake news.

4. a) To do fact-checks in regional languages (Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu).

b) To have a dedicated team to reply to messages we get on different platforms where our presence is. Currently, we majorly use messages we get on our WhatsApp fact-check no. as a source to find fake news that is being circulated and do fact-check on them.

c) Strengthening the media literacy program and having these workshops in the rural hinterlands of India.

d) Work on getting grants and being part of media collaborations.

The unit has been exclusively set up for the purpose of fact-checking. 

The Logical Indian Fact Check team focuses on fact-checking claims that matter. We do fact-checks on claims we believe that if spread, can disturb communal harmony, instigate riots, harm the reputation of an individual or an organisation, if followed can harm the health of people or influence thoughts of people. Above all, we believe that no citizens should put their vote based on fake information they have consumed, so we fact-check claims made by political leaders, parties, governments or policymakers.

We are attaching the spreadsheet of the lead topic that we covered in each fact-check we published over the 12 months prior to the date of 16th April, 2022. Except for a few, all the news we fact-checked are for the common good and safety of the public.

The articles published over the last three months can also be accessed on this link - https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check

The applicant has published an average of one fact-check a week over the last year. 

Most of the fact checks made by the applicant are in the public interest. 

The Logical Indian has a strict policy against taking political funds and political ad-campaigns. The Logical Indian and its fact-check division don't have any commercial, financial and/or institutional relationship with the state, politicians or political parties in the country. The Logical Indian is bootstrapped and hasn't taken any funding to explain funding or support received from foreign as well as local state or political actors over the previous financial year.

The applicant’s work is not controlled by the state or a political party. 

We don't take funding from local or foreign state of political sources

The applicant states that it does not receive any funding from any political sources—local or foreign.

We prioritize fact-checks on claims we believe that if spread may disrupt societal peace, instigate chaos, damage a person or organization 's credibility if pursued may damage people's health or influence people's thoughts.

1. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/aimim-helped-bjp-to-win-165-seats-in-up-election-34489

2. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/12-hindus-charred-to-death-in-birbhum-west-bengal-34645

3. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/girl-arrested-by-up-police-for-carrying-pistol-35025

4. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/hindu-goons-attacked-muslim-shopkeeper-with-sword-34667

5. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/video-show-rss-goons-assaulting-and-disrobing-a-woman-because-she-sold-meat-34990

6. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/mandir-demolition-30858

7. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/arvind-kejriwal-without-mask-33142

8. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/old-image-of-cheating-at-exam-centre-in-bihar-shared-as-visuals-from-gujarat-34963

9. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/karnataka-youth-congres-office-33752

10. https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/amit-shah-rally-33984

The applicant uses the same standards of evidence for judging equivalent claims, regardless of who made the claim. 

The Fact Check team at The Logical Indian is always on the lookout for any news/social media posts where false information has been shared as a fact, or correct information is being shared as incorrect. A few examples of posts we take up are:

1) We verify claims made by politicians/people in important governmental positions in India

2) Information being shared against or in favour of political parties/leaders which appear untrue.

3) Posts by Facebook pages/Twitter handles spreading hate using fake information Messages from our readers, who mail/text us anything which looks suspicious.

4) Scams/Rumours which can cause fear or panic amongst people.

5) Misinformation on health or even related to business/economy.

To ensure that we verify the most viral claims, we depend on our WhatsApp fact-check no., we check for the no. of requests we have got on a piece of particular information that is being sent to us and also we google/Facebook search/Twitter search the text with which the posts are being shared to check the virality of the content.

https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactcheckmethodology

It does not concentrate its fact-checking on any one side and it considers the reach and importance of the claims it selects. 

Sources are clearly mentioned and the reader might reasonably conclude if the sources could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided. 

The Logical Indian's origin is related to Aam Aadmi Party and India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. In 2011, the country was going through a churning when there was a lot of anger against the alleged corruptions going on in the country. IAC movement brought the youth of the country out on the streets and for many it was a moment of realisation that we as citizens have hope of better governance and accountability, and the movement inspired the Founders of The Logical Indian. The Founders of The Logical Indian don't have any affiliation with AAP or any other political party. The movement led to the origin of AAP and we at the starting day of the platform (early 2014) supported the ideas proposed by them as they were relatable to the Youth. As we grew as the news platform, we have been nonpartisan and unbiased in coverage of any of the political parties.

The applicant has no affiliation with any politician or political party and does not advocate for or against any policy positions. 

Non-Partisanship Policy - https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactchecknonpartisan

As a digital media platform, The Logical Indian strives to achieve the highest standard of journalism. In pursuance of the same standard, The Logical Indian has a clear policy to not take donations, investments or grants from a political party or any individual leader representing a political party. The Logical Indian including its fact-checking team has a stringent policy for its employees to not be part of any political party, think tanks associated with political parties, advocacy groups or NGOs which are affiliated with political parties. Employees aren’t allowed to support even independent political candidates which might put question marks on the credibility of the individual or the organisation. Employees are expected to not be partisan while expressing their political views in public and that is reflected through our social media policy which is applicable to not just the editorial team but everyone part of the company. Disciplinary actions are taken in case of violation depending on the impact of the act.

A clause from our Social Media Policy, the scope of which applies to all the employees of 5W1H Media Private Limited. Here's the clause -

"5W1H Media staffers must be aware that the opinions they express may damage 5W1H Media’s reputation as an unbiased source of news. 5W1H staffers must refrain from declaring their views on contentious public issues in any public forum and must not take part in organized action in support of causes or movements. Staffers must not include political affiliations in their profiles and should not make any postings that express political views expressing consistent inclination towards a political party, ideology, leader or a member. All political views must be neutral or solution-oriented "

It’s non-partisanship policy for staff is easily accessible on its site and its staff stays away from policy issues. 

The applicant identifies all sources clearly, providing links where the source is available online. Readers can replicate the fact check if they wish to. 

Primary sources are mainly used, though secondary sources, too are used. 

All main elements of claims are checked against more than one source. 

The applicant clearly identifies the sources it uses. 

The Logical Indian Fact Check is a unit of The Logical Indian, a digital media platform. The proof of the same is attached here.

On its ownership and funding page, the applicant has put out the legal registration form for its parent company. 

The Logical Indian is part of 5W1H Media Private Limited with its registered office in Bangalore, India. Started in 2013, the company is founded by Abhishek Mazumdar (Co-Founder) and Anurag Mazumdar (Co-Founder).

https://thelogicalindian.com/about/owershipandfunding

Since it is a unit of the parent company, it makes a statement of ownership.

For a news organization, The Logical Indian believes it is important to have clearly defined roles and a formal structure of your fact-check team. The Logical Indian aims to ensure straightforward and best practices in fact-checking.

The structure of the fact-check team can be accessed at this link- https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/

For a news organization, The Logical Indian believes it is important to have clearly defined roles and a formal structure. The Logical Indian aims to ensure straightforward and best practices in fact-checking.

The Logical Indian overall crew: https://thelogicalindian.com/our-crew

The structure of the fact-checking team - https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/

The Logical Indian Fact team has an editor, a writer and an intern. The team reports directly to Abhishek Mazumdar, CEO of the company.

The applicant makes a statement on organizational structure. In the application here, it says that it "believes it is important to have clearly defined roles and a formal structure of your fact-check team". However, it has only two people in its fact checking team—an editor and an intern. So, one can debate about how the organizational structure helps in ensuring accurate and reliable fact checks.

The applicant makes a statement on organizational structure. In the application here, it says that it "believes it is important to have clearly defined roles and a formal structure of your fact-check team". However, it has only two people in its fact checking team—an editor and an intern.

The biographies of those who are part of The Logical Indian fact-check team: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/

The biographies of those who are part of The Logical Indian fact-check team: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/

The biographies of the two people who make up the team are put out on the website. However, the biography of the second person clearly has a mistake in the gender stated.

The biographies of the two people who make up the team are put out on the website.

At the end of each article, we encourage our readers to send us information that they want to be verified. The text reads, "If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343." Also, if readers miss that, we also have a poster at the end of each fact-check article asking users for the same.

Readers can also submit their claim for verification at the 'Contact Us' page of our website. The 'Contact Us' option is available at the top right corner of the website. 'Contact Us' option is also available in the footer of the website. The contact us option will be visible for readers on all the pages of the website. The link to the contact us page is https://thelogicalindian.com/contact-us-3/

The applicant provides easy means for users to communicate through its website. It has a Contact Us page with a form and has put out email addresses. It can also be contacted through social media.

On the about us section of The Logical Indian Fact Check, the methodology of selection, research, writing and publishing of our fact checks is available: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactcheckmethodology

The applicant makes a statement about the methodology it uses to select, research, write and publish fact checks.

The applicant selects claims to check based on the importance of the claims and where possible explains the reason for choosing the claim to check. 

In its fact checks, the applicant puts out evidence that appears to undermine it as well as that appears to support the claim. 

The applicant uses the same standards on equivalent claims, regardless of who made the claim. 

Where possible, the applicant seeks to contact those who made the claim for supporting evidence. 

We verify any kind of information which are important to the public. At the end of each article, we encourage our readers to send us information that they want to be verified. The text reads, "If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343."

Also, if readers miss that, we also have a poster at the end of each fact-check article asking users for the same.

In the methodology section of our website, we have explained what kind of claims readers can expect to be fact-checked. The link is here: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactcheckmethodology

Additionally, on the 'Contact Us' page where readers can submit any information they want to be verified, we have explained what kind of claims The Logical Indian verifies. https://thelogicalindian.com/contact-us-3/

The applicant encourages users to send in claims to check and explains what can or can not be checked. 

The Logical Indian as an organisation has always been upfront in owning its mistakes and apart from corrections, in the case of major blunders, we have issued public apology to our readers. The same value is carried by The Logical Indian Fact Check team. For any factual error in our fact-check article, as it comes to our notice, we do a revised article with a new conclusion and explain the correction at the top of the article and distribute it on all the social media platforms where our presence is.

There are multiple avenues where our readers can reach out to point out any correction in our contents. The one avenue which our readers often use is "suggest a correction" tab that is available at the end of each fact-check article. The screenshot of the same option is attached here. The other way is they can email directly to us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com.

The overall correction policy with details of different kinds of errors and the ways we addressed them is summed up here:

The Logical Indian fact-check team takes all effort to ensure that any of the information that goes live is verified. We endeavour to be promptly responsive in correcting errors in the material published on our platform. When we run a correction, clarification on our social media handles or share an editor’s note, our goal is to tell readers, as clearly and quickly as possible, what was wrong and what is correct. Anyone should be able to understand how and why a mistake has been corrected.

Updating a Report

We make it a practice to put notes on stories if a story has been updated. It is important for us to use a correction or clarification to inform readers whenever we correct a significant mistake or edit a story to include comments and updates from a stakeholder.

Corrections

If we are substantively correcting an article, photo caption, headline, graphic, video or other material, we promptly publish a correction explaining the need for the said change. For any factual error in our fact-check article, as it comes to our notice, we do a revised article with a new conclusion and explain the correction at the top of the article and distribute it on all the social media platforms where our presence is.

Clarification

When our journalism is factually correct but the language we used to explain those facts is not as clear or detailed as it should be, the language is rewritten and clarification is added to the story. A clarification is also used to note if we initially failed to seek a comment or response that has since been added to the story.

Other Corrections Policies

When we publish erroneous information on social networks, we correct it on that platform. We retract the incorrect information if we cannot alter it.

If one believes a story we have published is inaccurate, please suggest corrections via the ‘Suggest A Correction’ section that appears at the end of every web story that is published. We also request our community members to send the correction to factcheck@thelogicalindian.com.

The Logical Indian correction policy can be assessed in our about us section: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactcheckcorrectionpolicy

The applicant’s correction policy is easily accessible on its website. 

The policy sets out clearly how major mistakes are handled and seems to have been adhered to. 

Since the inception of The Logical Indian fact-check team, there has been only one instance when there was an error in our fact-check article and we apologised for the error and put the correct information with the apology.

https://thelogicalindian.com/fact-check/old-image-of-iskcon-temple-distributing-food-viral-34184

The applicant says that there has only been one instance of it getting a fact-check wrong and has linked to a correction that it has put up. However, the text in the URL to the story mentions a different story completely. It might be a good idea to change it. As a fact-checker, the applicant needs to be accurate in its work. 

We have linked it on the corrections policy section informing users about the complaints page on the IFCN website: https://thelogicalindian.com/about-fact-checking/#tlifactcheckcorrectionpolicy

The applicant is an existing signatory and, in its website, provides a link to the IFCN complaints page and informs the user that they may file complaints with the IFCN. 

The link to the parent media company's correction policy: https://thelogicalindian.com/policy/corrections

Since its existence, The Logical Indian has always believed in giving accurate information to our readers. In case of factual errors/major blunders, we have issued a public apology with corrections. We have done articles too on our mistakes to ensure that users of the original see the correction and the corrected version.

Here are a few links to the corrections made in case of error:

https://twitter.com/logicalindians/status/1382983812620029953

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaB8gjyqaop/

https://www.facebook.com/logical.indian/photos/a.480080892121635/3985638641565825/

The parent company has a corrections policy and three instances of corrections made by the parent company have been linked in the application.