E-Paper
India’s network of fact-checkers to accept applications from early 2024: MCA
MCA announced a framework for Fact-Checking Network to develop self-governing standards and best practices for fact-checking organisations in India
NEW DELHI: The Fact-Checking Network (FCN), the Indian version of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), will accept applications from fact-checking organisations from “early 2024”, the Misinformation Combat Alliance (MCA) has said.
MCA, a network of Indian fact checkers, publishers, industry bodies and civic tech entities, announced the setting up of FCN on Tuesday. MCA was registered in 2020 but became public in 2022. When the IT Ministry notified the controversial fact-check amendment in April 2023, MCA proposed that it could act as an industry-supported self-regulatory organisation that could certify Indian fact-checkers.
Tuesday’s announcement was a step in this direction.
In response to a questionnaire by HT, MCA said that “as on date, there is no regulatory or legislative requirement or framework for the FCN to interact with a government notified fact checking body”.
MCA also said that there was no “direct connection” between FCN and IFCN, which the nonprofit Poynter Institute started in 2015 to support fact-checkers across the world.
“However, some of the MCA members and future signatories of FCN may be IFCN’s verified signatories and vice-versa,” MCA said.
HT reported on October 17 that 19 of the 20 current and former IFCN signatories in India had refused to apply for the Karnataka government’s Information Disorder Tackling Unit because the government’s call for proposals was in direct conflict with the IFCN’s code of principles, and if accepted, the signatories stood to lose their accreditation.
MCA did not clearly answer whether FCN signatories would face a similar fate.
“It depends on the specific case and the nature of work that the FCN signatory undertakes for any entity. All such interactions will be evaluated on the basis of the CoP [Code of Principles] and adherence to them in letter and spirit,” MCA said.
Membership to the FCN will be determined by the fact-checkers’ adherence to FCN’s code of principles. This code of principles has not been made public yet.
“The copy [of the code of principles] will be shared when it is made public for signatory applications. Applications are not open at this moment,” MCA said in response to a questionnaire sent by HT.
MCA added that the code would include seven broad principles: commitment to non-partisanship and fairness, to standards of transparency of sources, to transparency of funding and organisation, to standards and transparency of methodology, to an open and honest corrections policy, to respect intellectual property rights, and to privacy and safety.
In its announcement on Tuesday, MCA said that while such commitments can also be found in international best practices, FCN’s code of principles has “tailored provisions” to suit Indian interests.
Any fact-checking organisation that has a “demonstrable focus” on India and fact checks in English or any of the 22 languages recognised by the Indian Constitution can apply to become a verified signatory. Membership of the MCA is not obligatory.
“Assessors”, who must be Indian citizens and residents, will assess applications from fact-checkers and submit them to the FCN board. These assessors must have “extensive experience and qualifications” as journalists or researchers in affiliated fields. “[They] will need to demonstrate their expertise and political neutrality to perform this role,” MCA said in its response to HT.
The fact checking framework in India will be overseen by the FCN board which will be chaired by a retired Supreme Court or high court judge and will have independent eminent persons from the field of media, broadcasting, journalism, human rights or law.
The FCN board will get reports from the assessors “to determine whether an organisation should be accepted as a verified signatory”, MCA said. The FCN board will be selected by MCA’s governing council and will be put in place before FCN’s operations begin.
MCA’s governing council is headed by Bharat Gupta, the chief executive officer of Jagran Group’s digital wing Jagran New Media. Not all members of the governing council are from fact-checking organisations.
This board will be responsible for ensuring that signatories that violate the FCN code of principles face consequences which could include losing their signatory status and being barred from applying for it again.
“Any member of the general public can file a complaint about such violations against a verified signatory. … The FCN signatory status will not exist in perpetuity. It will be renewed periodically through an extensive and declared assessment process,” MCA said in its response.
