Media Bias/Fact Check (MBFC), founded in 2015, is an independent online media outlet. MBFC is dedicated to educating the public on media bias and deceptive news practices.

MBFC’s aim is to inspire action and a rejection of overtly biased media. We want to return to an era of straight forward news reporting.

MBFC follows a strict methodology for determining the biases of sources. Dave Van Zandt is the primary editor for sources. He is assisted by a collective of volunteers who assist in research for many sources listed on these pages.

Disinformation, misinformation, and “fake news” are longstanding phenomena that, in the wake of the digital revolution, have become newly politicized and consequential. Citizens around the world have instant access to a vast variety of information – some of which is purposely misleading or manufactured for political ends. The known uses of disinformation include coordinated campaigns aimed at influencing elections and undermining democratic processes. In response to these developments, new research on mis- and disinformation is rapidly emerging from a range of academic disciplines.

Real411 was created to give all citizens the power to report digital disinformation during the run up to the 2019 South African National and Provincial Elections. When individuals report to the Real411, they are reporting to the Electoral Commission’s (IEC) Directorate for Electoral Offences. The IEC will rule on acts of disinformation for appropriate action to be taken.

Media Matters for Pakistan is a web based initiative, designed to act as an informal watchdog over the mainstream media in Pakistan. This platform aims to highlight issues of ethics and ideology in the mainstream media content. We aim to develop a counter narrative to the exceedingly right-wing, moral policing based programming that has taken hold of the media.

The Media Manipulation Initative takes a sociotechnical approach to understanding the social, political, and economic incentives to game information systems, websites, platforms, and search engines—especially in cases where the attackers intend to destabilize democratic, social, and economic institutions. Through empirical research, they identify the unintended consequences of socio-technical systems and track attempts to locate and address threats, with an eye towards increasing organizational capacity across fields, so that action can be taken as problems emerge.

Media literacy helps us understand, analyze and create media. While we rely on good journalism to provide accurate information, we also have responsibilities of our own in this media-saturated environment. We can no longer be passive consumers of media. We need to be active users of media, as readers, listeners, viewers and creators, so we are all better informed. Our goal is to help you do just that.

MarvelousAI is an early stage startup founded by tech industry veterans. We are building an augmented analytics platform to provide actionable insights regarding online narratives. Our “Cyborg” intelligence methodology detects narratives and fine-grained emotional content, combining the power of human-in-the-loop learning with the latest in natural language processing, computational linguistics, and machine learning.

The Manilla Principles on Intermediary Liability define various principles for intermediary companies to follow when operating in democratic and authoritarian environments, including that: Intermediaries should be shielded from liability for third-party content; Content must not be required to be restricted without an order by a judicial authority; Requests for restrictions of content must be clear, be unambiguous, and follow due process; Laws and content restriction orders and practices must comply with the tests of necessity and proportionality

Never before has the need for News Literacy been more urgent. As news consumers are bombarded with a constant stream of fake news, propaganda, hoaxes, rumors, satire, and advertising — that often masquerade as credible journalism — it is becoming more and more difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. While the public’s faith in the news media erodes, purveyors of misinformation have helped give rise to troubling cultural trends and alarming political movements.

IREX’s Learn to Discern approach helps citizens recognize and resist disinformation, propaganda, and hate speech. Learn to Discern’s unique methodology builds practical skills for citizens of all ages through interactive training, videos, games, and other learning experiences. We first implemented Learn to Discern to counter highly sophisticated disinformation campaigns in Ukraine. We are now piloting the curriculum in the United States with local communities and journalists.