Tech Matters: Political fact check: If Facebook can’t, you can

Just a little more than a year out from the 2020 presidential election, we’re bombarded by news and advertisements for political candidates. Fears about foreign countries unfairly influencing the election are running high, as are accusations about candidates’ connections, voting records and lobbyist affiliations here at home.

Just last week both Facebook and Twitter refused to remove ads placed by Donald Trump’s reelection campaign because the ads — widely shown to be false — do not break either social media platforms’ policy. Political ads and statements are considered direct speech, and therefore not subject to fact-checking.

In a speech to students that same week at Georgetown University, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said, “I don’t think most people want to live in a world where you can only post things that tech companies judge to be 100 percent true.” But just because Facebook, Twitter and others can’t fact-check, you can.

There are a number of fact-checking services online that you can use for free, but it’s just as important to vet a fact-checking site as it is to verify the information itself. According to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a good fact-checking site uses neutral wording, provides unbiased sources to support its claims and reliable links.