AFP Fact Check

About AFP Fact Check's Bias Rating

AFP Fact Check is a fact check source with an AllSides Media Bias Rating™ of Left.

What a "Left" Rating Means

Sources with an AllSides Media Bias Rating of Left display media bias in ways that strongly align with liberal, progressive, or left-wing thought and/or policy agendas. This is our most liberal rating on the political spectrum.

Details

AFP Fact Check has a Left AllSides Media Bias Rating™.

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AFP Fact Check Rated Left in AllSides July 2023 Small Group Editorial Review

In July 2023, the AllSides team conducted a Small Group Editorial Review of AFP Fact Check in which we moved AFP Fact Check’s bias rating from Center to Left.

A small group of AllSides reviewers — one person each with a bias on the left, center, and right — reviewed content from AFP Fact Check for media bias. The team noted that AFP Fact Check demonstrated a great degree of bias by story choice, in which it only fact checked officials, voices, or opinions popular on the right, and did not fact check leftist or liberal claims. The team also noticed word choice bias, like referring to Elon Musk as “the billionaire,” or voices on the right as “QAnon conspiracy theorists.”

Featured Content

At the time of review, topics frequently covered by AFP Fact Check included the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Elon Musk, Covid vaccines, and conservative commentators.

Common themes noticed by the team were how frequently AFP Fact Check assessed claims that cast Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a negative light, accused Elon Musk of spreading misinformation, or questioned Pfizer and alleged side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Articles reviewed included: 

Paper does not prove Pfizer mRNA vaccine causes 'turbo cancer'

Elon Musk tweet amplifies false Ukraine casualty numbers

UK infant myocarditis cases unrelated to Covid vaccination

Posts misrepresent Pfizer Covid vaccine's adverse effects

Conservative commentators, politicians distort Biden's remarks on tanks for Ukraine

'Stamp of approval': Twitter's Musk amplifies misinformation.

AFP Fact Check Rated as Center in July 2022 Independent Review

Previously, a July 2022 Independent Review returned a bias rating of Center for AFP Fact Check.

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As of April 2024, people have voted on the AllSides Media Bias Rating for AFP Fact Check. On average, those who disagree with our rating think this source has a Lean Left bias.

As of April 2024, AllSides has low or initial confidence in our Left rating for AFP Fact Check. If we perform more bias reviews and gather consistent data, this confidence level will increase.

Additional Information

AFP Fact Check is the fact checking arm of Agence France-Presse (not rated by AllSides), a French international news agency that is headquartered in Paris and was founded in 1835. AFP was originally founded as Havas, before being changed to French Information Office in 1940 by the German forces that took control of Paris. It received its current name in 1944, when Allied Forces regained control of Paris.

AFP was originally established as a government institution, but later declared a private independent body by the French parliament in 1957.

Today, AFP remains one of three global news agencies, including Reuters (Center bias), and Associated Press (Lean Left bias), and has an editorial presence in 151 countries.

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Owner: Unknown

According to AFP, two-thirds of its revenues come from its own “commercial activities” while the remainder comes from the French state for pursuing its “missions of general interest.”