Fact-Checking Misinformation: Eight Notes on Consensus Reality

Abstract

In this study we review the literature on fact-checking and the empirical evidence contending that it can correct prior knowledge and successfully debunk misinformation. We caution against the oversized expectation of policymakers that fact-checks can ward off misinformation and outline eight fundamental problems revolving around epistemology, implementation, bias, efficacy, ambiguity, objectivity, ephemerality, and criticism. We discuss these shortcomings in relation to the reorganization of the fact-checking industry as the linchpin in the fight against misinformation in the United Kingdom, United States, Malaysia, Turkey, and Brazil. The article concludes with a discussion on the extent to which fact-checking may be effective in countering the current misinformation landscape in a context where consensus reality has been super-imposed by individual reality.

Keywords: Fact-checking, Disinformation, Trust, Social media, Bias, Uncertainty