VoxCheck is a distinct project team within a legally registered non-profit organization VoxUkraine. It is stated on the website here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian. 

VoxCheck team and newsroom are part of VoxUkraine online portal, established and designed specifically for Fact-checking purposes. VoxUkraine is officially registered in Ukraine entity. The Statute of VoxUkraine clearly states fact-checking initiative and distribution of this information as specific activity of the organization.

1. VoxCheck's fact-checking operation started in 2016. The reason was a large number of lies and populism from politicians, a low level of critical thinking of the population, and the lack of fact-checking projects in Ukraine.

2. There are 18 core members of the VoxCheck team (VoxUkraine CEO, VoxUkriane CTO, head of VoxCheck, Chief Accountant, Financial Manager, 3 Senior Analysts, 2 Analysts, 3 Junior Analysts, Website Administrator, Head of the Multimedia Department, Multimedia Producer, Designer, TikTok Creator). One can find them and their positions here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en/ or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian

3. The organization's primary activities are fact-checking politicians, debunking fakes under Meta's Third-Party Fact-Checking Program, producing video and text explainers, educational economic- and media-literacy activities, and countering Russian disinformation and health-related disinformation.

4. The main objectives for the coming year are to:

a) continuously monitor and refute the growing disinformation and misinformation together with foreign partners;

b) expand the educational program (including lectures, training, and internships) for students (majoring in International Relations, int law, sociology, PR, communications, journalism, and economics), journalists, media experts, and everyone interested in fact-check and disinformation;

c) expand methodology concerning fakes and Russian disinformation monitoring;

d) counter Russian disinformation spread by European media;

e) intensify efforts to counter health-related disinformation and misinformation.

VoxCheck is active since 2016 and 18 staff-members are working on fact-checking, publishing the analysis results of a wide range of topics. Their goals and plans of activities for the next coming year are focused on countering Russian disinformation spread by European media, expanding educational program targeted on different audiences and focusing on the healthcare related disinformation.

Over a year since our last application was approved (October 22, 2021 — September 30, 2022), we have published 1089 materials on the website. Most of them include either fact-checks of political statements or debunking of Russian disinformation or debunking of health-related disinformation. We also published explainers and digests of Russian disinformation or health-related disinformation. For the indicated period, it is approximately 22 publications per week.

One can find the debunking publications here https://voxukraine.org/category/voxcheck-uk/ and other types of publications here https://voxukraine.org/tag/voxcheck/. The information is predominantly in Ukrainian, although publications are translated into Russian or English.

Also, fact-checks of politicians are made publicly available through our database Anthology of Lie (https://nepravda.org). This year we have created two additional databases. The first one, the Propaganda diary, includes debunking of Russian disinformation spread by Italian and German media. This database will cover disinformation in other European countries (at least Chezh Republic, Austria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia) over the coming year. It is available at https://rusdisinfo.voxukraine.org/. The second one, Propaganda Detox, is devoted to the analysis of disinformation on healthcare. It is also located on a separate website https://medfakes.voxukraine.org/. 

VoxCheck publishes fact-check reports on a regular basis up to 12 times a day having more than 9000 stories totally. All reports are stored on https://voxukraine.org/category/voxcheck-uk/  that has a user-friendly search engine. The database of all reports has tool for filtering, ranking, and sorting of Anthology of Lie is very convenient to assess politicians' integrity and compare them.

Analysis of previous three month publications topics on the website showed that VoxCheck is focusing on socially important issues including Russian full-scale invasion to Ukraine, and disinformation related to the war and other topics that have a direct impact on public welfare and people life. 

VoxCheck is a part of VoxUkraine — a non-profit organization that aims at diversifying its funding. We have no commercial, financial and/or institutional relationship with the state, politicians, or political parties in the country or countries we cover.

According to the Policies and Procedures Manual, the size of a single grant should not be greater than 33% of the organization’s annual budget and funding from a single private individual should not be greater than 10% of the organization’s annual budget. Since 2020, as Third-Party Fact-Checking Program partners, we have received financing from Facebook, and over 2020, Facebook arrangement constituted 40.5% of VoxUkraine’s revenues. However, (1) Facebook arrangement is more like a service than a grant — we don't report how we spend money; (2) We save much of this money and we have a lot of other sources of funds; (3) Facebook does not influence our policies. In 2022, Facebook arrangement constituted only 8% of VoxUkraine’s revenues due to raising grants from new donors (USAID Health Reform Support, DT Institute, DRI etc.). This change in budget will be shown in the annual report for 2022 on our website.

VoxUkraine raises project-aimed and institutional funds from donor organizations if funding conditions and potential projects help to implement our mission. If a donor (private individual or entity) who financially supported VoxUkraine did not state the anonymity preference, his\her name (or name of the entity) would be stated in VoxUkraine’s annual financial report. If a donor expressed an anonymity preference or did not want to reveal the amount of money donated, VoxUkraine would not disclose such information.

One can find our annual reports (available in Ukrainian and English) here: https://voxukraine.org/en/about-us/. The report for 2020 is here: https://voxukraine.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Annual-report-2020.pdf. Also, the financial audit was conducted in 2022. The audit results for 2021 are attached to this Criteria section.

Based on the content analysis, editorial policy and reports it is evident that VoxCheck looks fully independent of any state and political influence and control. It does't have any relations with local state ad political actors, does not support any political party or candidate.The project is supported by a number of international donors and the funding sources look well diversified.

1. According to the Policy and Procedure Manual of VoxUkraine, donors and editorial policy is the following. No donor shall intervene in the VoxUkraine editorial policy or influence VoxUkraine content in any way. If a donor tries to influence VoxUkraine content or its other activities, members of the Editorial Board must be notified. If the majority of the Editorial Board thinks that a donor has an undue influence on the editorial process, any member of the Editorial Board or management of VoxUkraine shall consult the Ethical Committee, which would decide on this matter.

2. VoxCheck is a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles. It means that we are independent of any external interference. It is also stated in the "VoxCheck Independence" section: https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian.

The support provided by the foreign donors does not affect editorial policy and it is clearly described in the statement of editorial independence on the page https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org

The site has the statement at the bottom of each publication stating "The authors are not employees, do not advise, do not own shares and do not receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and are not affiliated in any way with them." (see attached screenshot)

In our work, we look into the lies and manipulations of all representatives of the political sphere. Hence, we have materials concentrating on the statements from solely the governmental representatives or solely the opposition representatives. VoxCheck is impartial in its fact-checks. Our assessment does not depend on their governmental or oppositional status or preference.

We have also expanded our field to revealing and countering narratives mainly used by Russia in their disinformation campaigns, be it fakes about the Russian invasion in Ukraine or fakes on public health issues.

Examples of the materials on the government/president/ruling party in the parliament:

1.https://voxukraine.org/marafon-na-ekvatori-perevirka-tsytat-zelenskogo-na-chergovij-preskonferentsiyi/

2.https://voxukraine.org/ne-vpershe-analiz-promovy-prezydenta-u-radi/

3.https://voxukraine.org/dymna-geografiya-hto-z-parlamentariv-hotiv-povernuty-kurinnya-v-gromadskyh-mistsyah-ta-yak-tse-provalylosya/

Examples of materials on oppositional party members:

4.https://voxukraine.org/rozumna-chy-manipulyatyvna-polityka-rytoryka-ta-kkd-deputativ-novogo-mizhfraktsijnogo-ob-yednannya/

Examples of materials including both sides:

5.https://voxukraine.org/z-yavyvsya-konkurent-parlamentu-rekomenduyut-uhvalyty-slabshi-zaborony-reklamy-tyutyunu/

Examples of materials on Russia disinformation narratives:

6.https://voxukraine.org/holodomor/

7.https://voxukraine.org/vyznannya-rosiyeyu-ldnr-ta-proval-normandskogo-formatu-yak-manipulyuvaly-prorosijski-media-za-tyzhden-9-16-lyutogo/

8.https://voxukraine.org/rada-brekhni-putina-analiz-zasidannya-radbezu-rf/

Examples of materials on health-related disinformation or misinformation:

9.https://voxukraine.org/pislya-roku-vaktsynatsiyi-lyudstvo-ne-vymerlo-najbilsh-populyarni-fejky-pro-shheplennya-proty-covid-19/

10.https://voxukraine.org/orglyad-naratyviv-pro-suspilne-zdorovja-vypusk-1/

For our fact-checks, we take only those statements that contain facts or figures. All fact-checks are double-checked by the VoxCheck team and go through the peer-review procedure, which means that at least two editors from the VoxUkraine Editorial Board read our fact-checks and give comments (also noted in the Policies and Procedures Manual). No article, except those on debunking fakes, can be published until signed off by two editors. The pieces on debunking fakes are signed off and approved for publication by two members of the VoxCheck team, who have not been involved in the writing process.

While fact-checking or debunking fakes, we use information from official and reliable sources that one can find on the web. These sources may include information from:

- governmental institutions (e.g. CDC, Eurostat, State Statistics Service of Ukraine, etc.);

- generally recognized international organizations (e.g. the UN, the EU, NATO etc.);

- reputable think tanks and pooling organizations (e.g. Razumkov Centre, Pew Research Center, etc.);

- governmental and non-governmental institutions providing information on the Russian invasion (General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and similar institutions from other countries (UK, US), Institute for the Study of War, Come Back Alive Foundation);

- official information from companies, associations, and foundations (e.g. Pfizer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation);

- media with high factual reporting standards, including IFCN signatories (e.g. AFP, BBC, Reuters, etc.);

- OSINT investigators (Bellingcat, CIT, InformNapalm);

- peer-reviewed academic articles.

We do not fact-check if we cannot find publicly available proof. If the information needed for the fact-check may be requested from the authorities, we can do so provided that we make this information publicly available. In this way, we ensure that the readers can click-and-check each fact-check.

All the links to the sources are embedded in the fact-checks. One can see that on our website or databases on disinformation: https://nepravda.org/, https://rusdisinfo.voxukraine.org/, https://medfakes.voxukraine.org/. 

The fact-checks provided in the links shows that VoxCheck is applying the same standards and professional approach in both selecting the topics and claims in an unbiased way as well as doing fact-checking of the claims.

The process of fact-checking and possible assessments is described here: https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en/ or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian. 

The principles and process of selection claims for fact-checking as well as   assessment methodology is described on https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/  It shows that VoxCheck does not unduly concentrate fact-checking on any one side keeping unbiased attitude. 

Based on the analysis of randomly selected VoxVheck stories published during last year it is evidently seen that while producing fact-checking stories VoxCheck team discloses sources status in the story in appropriate cases. The sources used by VoxCheck to confirm facts are neutral and don't influence the accuracy of the factcheck, so the reader might reasonably conclude the interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided. This helps the reader to understand if the source has a specific interest and gives a deeper understanding of the story context.

Content analysis of randomly selected VoxCheck stories published during last year had proven no support of any political party or politician or company, publications reviewed are neither supporting any policy nor advocating any initiative.

Our commitment to Nonpartisanship and Fairness, as well as a statement that any member of VoxCheck does not belong to any political party and does not represent the interests of any politician or authority, is stated here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. This information is available in English and Ukrainian.

Over the past year, we provided content to Ukrainian authorities (the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy and its subdivisions). However, this content was defined exclusively by VoxCheck without any interference or censorship of any information by the authorities.

VoxUkraine (which is an organization for the VoxCheck project) is a non-partisan NGO. This principle is noted in the Policies and Procedures Manual of the organization. VoxUkraine also demands all editors, board members, and employees to disclose any potential conflict of interest (Policies and Procedures Manual). Thus, each article, including fact-checks published on the VoxUkraine website, contains a disclaimer on potential conflict of interest or its absence. Also, none of the VoxUkraine governing bodies (General Meeting and Supervisory Board) is a political party member.

At the moment, none of our employees is a political party member.

It is also written in our ethical principles here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian. 

The methodology document on the site https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/  as well as Policies and Procedures Manual explain the key criteria of non-partisanship preventing possible conflict of interest or support of political parties or any kind of bias or partisanship.

Checking of randomly selected stories published during last year confirmed that in all cases VoxCheck discloses the sources of information proving or undermining facts that are checked including direct links to reliable information or source . The fact-check stories are structured as step-by-step guidance that gives the users the opportunity to replicate the fact-check on their own.

Random check of last year stories shows that VoxCheck is using primary sources, mostly official public data or documents to prove the facts in the publications.

The analysis of the content, confirmed the unbiased approach, using neutral sources for verification of facts, so the reader might reasonably conclude the interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided. If it goes about politicians VoxCheck clearly notices the interest of these sources for the transparency and understanding of the context.

The document verifying the non-profit status of VoxUkraine is attached (available in Ukrainian). 

VoxCheck is part of VoxUkraine, an independent non-profit, non-government organization. Annual reports published on https://voxukraine.org/about-us/ have detailed information about sources of revenue and expenses.

The document provided with the application is suitable proof of the Non-profit independent status of the VoxUkraIne.

If your organization is “the fact-checking section or unit of a media house or other parent organization”, please share a link to the statement on your website about your ownership.

The information about the non-profitability of VoxUkraine, and consequently VoxCheck, is indicated several times on our website here https://voxukraine.org/en/about-us-eng/ or here https://voxukraine.org/about-us/ and also here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en/ or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian. 

On the VoxCheck section of the main VoxUkraine page https://voxukraine.org/voxcheck/ there are notifications that VoxUkraine is implementing the VoxCheck project as well as information about sources of funding, including Annual reports.

The following information is stated in Ukrainian and English here:

https://voxukraine.org/en/about-us/

https://voxukraine.org/about-us/

https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html

https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/ 

The management system and organizational structure of VoxCheck are clearly described here https://voxukraine.org/voxcheck/ and here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org 

Information about the VoxCheck team and editorial board is available in English (https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html/) and in Ukrainian (https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/).

Professional biographies are available if you click on the name of the team or editorial board member 

All information about the editorial board and team including biographies is available at https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org 

We have a feedback form on our website (https://voxukraine.org/en/voxcheck/ or https://voxukraine.org/voxcheck/). Our email is indicated here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. We are also open to communication on our social media. One can reach us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VoxCheck/) or Telegram through a feedback bot (@voxcheck_feedbackbot) or in comments (https://t.me/voxcheck). Our core team members are affiliated with VoxCheck on their Facebook pages, so people can also write there. 

VoxCheck provides various easy-to-use options to communicate with the editorial team through:

- email at the website https://voxukraine.org/voxcheck/ , 

- special form named "Verify the quote" https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScE25T5l8pnj13_8kGpW741wXG9crdKcf-J3X7VaqceuxGj4g/viewform , 

- social media https://www.facebook.com/VoxCheck/ , 

- @voxcheck_feedbackbot at Telegram.                                                                                                           

One can find our methodology here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian.

In addition, VoxCheck publishes a methodology for each individual project implemented. For example, in 2022, VoxCheck developed and released a database of Russian disinformation narratives in the German and Italian media, "Propaganda Diary". One can find a description of the project here: https://rusdisinfo.voxukraine.org/about (available in 5 languages, including English). One can find the project methodology here: https://rusdisinfo.voxukraine.org/method (also available in 5 languages, including English).

Also in 2022, VoxCheck developed an online database of Russian disinformation about public health protection in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia "Detox from Lies". One can find a description of the project here: https://medfakes.voxukraine.org/en/about.

The information is available in Ukrainian, English and Russian.

One can find the project methodology here:

https://medfakes.voxukraine.org/en/method. The information is available in Ukrainian, English and Russian.

One can find the up-to-date spreadsheet of the checked political statement here https://nepravda.org/. One can find the project methodology here (available in Ukrainian):

https://nepravda.org/#/methodology

One can find our Manual for Interns here (available in Ukrainian only):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d7b0TmYBOlmE1Wr4M7yaocQWJU4_RUC8oh540_WdJDg/edit  

The description of fact-checking methodology is at https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/ as well as at  https://nepravda.org/#/methodology 

Detailed instructions are also on Google Drive.

Most of the claims provided with the application and randomly selected for analysis by me were targeted at the Russian invasion of Ukraine and socially critical topics connected to disinformation and propaganda, the importance of the first one is evident, the rest were focused on finances, economy, social issues, international relations.

Analysis of randomly selected stories published during the last three months proves that the newsroom is seeking equality for both, proving and undermining claim facts and providing them to the readers so they can make a conscious decisions.  

VoxCheck applies an equal, unbiased, and neutral approach to the sources of claims and the sources proving claims.

An analysis of randomly selected stories showed that VoxCheck newsroom is seeking to contact those who made a claim and use alternate sources. 

A topic or quote for a fact check can be suggested by any of the readers in several ways.

VoxCheck encourages its readers and social media audience to send their fact-checking requests to our Facebook and Telegram pages, where we promptly respond to all offers of fact-checking materials.

Link to VoxCheck page on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/VoxCheck/?ref=page_internal

Link to VoxCheck channel on Telegram

https://t.me/voxcheck and feedback bot @voxcheck_feedbackbot

We also encourage our readers to contact us via email with any questions: voxcheck@gmail.com. They can also email us if they want to suggest a topic or piece of information for a fact check.

The VoxCheck team reviews each offer and performs a review in case of sufficient expertise and resources. In the opposite case, we will explain to the reader why we cannot take this or that material into work, particularly if the information offered to us cannot be verified on the basis of open sources. 

Multiple tools to submit the claim for checking include:

- email voxcheck@gmail.com, 

- Google Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScE25T5l8pnj13_8kGpW741wXG9crdKcf-J3X7VaqceuxGj4g/viewform 

 - social media at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/VoxCheck/) or Telegram through a feedback bot (@voxcheck_feedbackbot).

Please find the section for Error recognition policy here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en.html or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian.

VoxCheck has a clear Error recognition policy at https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/ 

Analysis of VoxCheck correction policy had proven that it meets the criteria and set the rules of identifying, treating, and correcting mistakes as well as correcting/updating verdicts and ratings.

In one of our fact checks (links below), we refuted a fake report that the Ukrainian parliament was considering a draft law that would allow eavesdropping on the conversations of Ukrainians. We gave this fact check a “Manipulation" verdict. An expert from the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) contacted us on Facebook and pointed out an error in the verdict, noting that a more correct verdict would be "False", since the draft law did not provide for the deprivation of Ukrainians' privacy and, moreover, did not provide for the possibility of listening to telephone conversations. We've changed the verdict, updated the headline, and added a note about it in the article.

Link to the article in Ukrainian:

https://voxukraine.org/manipulyatsiya-vru-rozglyadaye-zakonoproyekt-yakyj-dozvolyt-vidklyuchaty-telefony

In the other article (links below), we debunked fake news about Poland's intentions to appropriate the western regions of Ukraine. In the first version of the article, the meaning of the colors on the map was incorrectly indicated, which was pointed out to us by readers. So we've updated the headline and added a note about it in the article.

Link to the article in Ukrainian:

https://voxukraine.org/fejk-karta-yaka-ilyustruye-namir-polshhi-pryvlasnyty-zahidni-oblasti-ukrayiny/ 

Provided examples have proven that the correction policy of VoxCheck is correctly implemented, appropriately, honestly enforced, and applied in the cases where correction or update is needed.

We indicate it here https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/en/ or https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/. The information is available in English and Ukrainian.

The IFCN disclaimer and link to the complaint form are appropriately located at the https://voxcheck.voxukraine.org/ page.

VoxCheck is not a part of the media.

Since VoxUkraine is an analytical platform and not the media, this criteria is not applicable.