Wikipedia and fact-checking
{{Short description|Culture and practice of fact-checking in Wikipedia}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
Wikipedia's volunteer editor community has the responsibility of fact-checking Wikipedia's content. Their aim is to curb the dissemination of misinformation and disinformation by the website.
Wikipedia is considered one of the major free content websites, where millions can read, edit, and document what reliable sources say about millions of topics, for free. Therefore Wikipedia takes the effort to provide its readers with well-verified sources. Meticulous fact-checking is an aspect of the broader reliability of Wikipedia.
Various academic studies about Wikipedia and the body of criticism of Wikipedia seek to describe the limits of Wikipedia's reliability, document who uses Wikipedia for fact-checking and how, and what consequences result from this use. Wikipedia articles can have poor quality in many ways including self-contradictions.{{Cite book |last1=Hsu |first1=Cheng |last2=Li |first2=Cheng-Te |last3=Saez-Trumper |first3=Diego |last4=Hsu |first4=Yi-Zhan |title=2021 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (Big Data) |chapter=WikiContradiction: Detecting Self-Contradiction Articles on Wikipedia |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9671319 |year=2021 |pages=427–436 |doi=10.1109/BigData52589.2021.9671319|arxiv=2111.08543 |isbn=978-1-6654-3902-2 |s2cid=244130115 }} Those poor articles require improvement.
Large platforms including YouTube and Facebook{{cite web |last1=Flynn |first1=Kerry |title=Facebook outsources its fake news problem to Wikipedia—and an army of human moderators |url=https://mashable.com/2017/10/05/facebook-wikipedia-context-articles-news-feed/ |website=Mashable |language=en |date=5 October 2017}} use Wikipedia's content to confirm the accuracy of the information in their own media collections.
Using Wikipedia for fact-checking
Wikipedia serves as a public resource for access to genuine information. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic was an important topic on which people relied on Wikipedia for genuine information.{{cite web |last1=Benjakob |first1=Omer |title=Why Wikipedia is immune to coronavirus |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-why-wikipedia-is-immune-to-coronavirus-1.8751147 |website=Haaretz |language=en |date=4 August 2020}} Seeking public trust is a major part of Wikipedia's publication philosophy. Various reader polls and studies have reported public trust in Wikipedia's process for quality control.{{cite web |last1=Cox |first1=Joseph |date=11 August 2014 |title=Why People Trust Wikipedia More Than the News |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/in-defense-of-wikipedia/ |website=Vice |language=en}} In general, the public uses Wikipedia to counter fake news.
= YouTube fact-checking =
File:YouTube screenshot demonstrating Wikipedia fact-checking.png
At the 2018 South by Southwest conference, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki made the announcement that YouTube was using Wikipedia to fact check videos which YouTube hosts.{{cite web |last1=Glaser |first1=April |title=YouTube Is Adding Fact-Check Links for Videos on Topics That Inspire Conspiracy Theories |url=https://slate.com/technology/2018/08/youtube-is-adding-fact-check-links-from-wikipedia-and-encyclopedia-britannica-for-videos-on-topics-that-inspire-conspiracy-theories.html |website=Slate Magazine |language=en |date=14 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Montgomery |first1=Blake |last2=Mac |first2=Ryan |last3=Warzel |first3=Charlie |title=YouTube Said It Will Link To Wikipedia Excerpts On Conspiracy Videos — But It Didn't Tell Wikipedia |url=https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/blakemontgomery/youtube-will-link-to-wikipedia-below-conspiracy-theory |website=BuzzFeed News |language=en |date=13 March 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Feldman |first1=Brian |title=Why Wikipedia Works |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/why-wikipedia-works.html |website=Intelligencer |publisher=New York |language=en-us |date=16 March 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Feldman |first1=Brian |title=Wikipedia Is Not Going to Save YouTube From Misinformation |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/03/youtube-will-use-wikipedia-for-fact-checking.html |website=Intelligencer |publisher=New York |language=en-us |date=14 March 2018}} No one at YouTube had consulted anyone at Wikipedia about this development, and the news at the time was a surprise. The intent at the time was for YouTube to use Wikipedia as a counter to the spread of conspiracy theories. This is done by adding new information boxes under some YouTube videos, thereby, attracting conspiracy theorists.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
= Facebook fact-checking =
Facebook uses Wikipedia in various ways. Following criticism of Facebook in the context of fake news around the 2016 United States presidential election, Facebook recognized that Wikipedia already had an established process for fact-checking. Facebook's subsequent strategy for countering fake news included using content from Wikipedia for fact-checking.{{cite web |last1=Locker |first1=Melissa |title=Facebook thinks the answer to its fake news problems is Wikipedia |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/40477586/facebook-thinks-the-answer-to-its-fake-news-problems-is-wikipedia |website=Fast Company |date=5 October 2017}} In 2020, Facebook began to include information from Wikipedia's info boxes in its own general reference knowledge panels to provide objective information.{{cite web |last1=Perez |first1=Sarah |title=Facebook tests Wikipedia-powered information panels, similar to Google, in its search results |url=https://techcrunch.com/2020/06/11/facebook-tests-wikipedia-powered-information-panels-similar-to-google-in-its-search-results/ |website=TechCrunch |date=11 June 2020}}
= Professional fact-checkers =
Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg adapt an approach to fact checking as a type of media literacy, suggesting that information seekers emphasize lateral reading (or skimming multiple reliable sources instead of thoroughly examining one), including by using Wikipedia as a starting point for learning about a topic.{{Cite book |last1=Caulfield |first1=Mike |title=Verified: how to think straight, get duped less, and make better decisions about what to believe online |last2=Wineburg |first2=Samuel S. |author-link2=Sam Wineburg |date=2023 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-82984-5 |location=Chicago London |chapter=}}
Renée DiResta in her 2024 book advised victims of rumors, misinformation or disinformation to ensure that factual information was available online, including on Wikipedia, especially in an era when AI chatbots often rely on Wikipedia for information.{{Cite book |last=DiResta |first=Renee |title=Invisible rulers: the people who turn lies into reality |date=2024 |publisher=PublicAffairs |isbn=978-1-5417-0339-1 |location=New York |chapter=Part II Chapter 9}}
Fact-checking Wikipedia
Fact-checking is one aspect of the general editing process in Wikipedia. The volunteer community develops a process for reference and fact-checking through community groups such as WikiProject Reliability.{{cite Q|Q105083357}} Wikipedia has a reputation for cultivating a culture of fact-checking among its editors.{{cite web |last1=Keller |first1=Jared |title=How Wikipedia Is Cultivating an Army of Fact Checkers to Battle Fake News |url=https://psmag.com/news/how-wikipedia-is-cultivating-an-army-of-fact-checkers-to-battle-fake-news |website=Pacific Standard |language=en |date=14 June 2017}} Wikipedia's fact-checking process depends on the activity of its volunteer community of contributors, who numbered 200,000 as of 2018.{{cite web |last1=Timmons |first1=Heather |last2=Kozlowska |first2=Hanna |title=200,000 volunteers have become the fact checkers of the internet |url=https://qz.com/1264347/wikipedias-legion-of-editors-are-its-weapon-against-fake-news/ |website=Quartz |language=en |date=27 April 2018}}
The development of fact-checking practices is ongoing in the Wikipedia editing community.{{cite web |last1=Iannucci |first1=Rebecca |title=What can fact-checkers learn from Wikipedia? We asked the boss of its nonprofit owner |url=https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2017/what-can-fact-checkers-learn-from-wikipedia-we-asked-the-boss-of-its-nonprofit-owner/ |website=Poynter Institute |date=6 July 2017}} One development that took years was the 2017 community decision to declare a particular news source, Daily Mail, as generally unreliable as a citation for verifying claims.{{cite web |last1=Rodriguez |first1=Ashley |title=In a first, Wikipedia has deemed the Daily Mail too "unreliable" to be used as a citation |url=https://qz.com/907715/in-a-first-wikipedia-has-deemed-the-daily-mail-and-mail-online-too-unreliable-to-be-used-as-a-citation/ |website=Quartz |language=en |date=10 February 2017}} Through strict guidelines on verifiability, Wikipedia has been combating misinformation.{{cite journal |last1=Avieson |first1=Bunty |title=Editors, sources and the 'go back' button: Wikipedia's framework for beating misinformation |journal=First Monday |date=7 November 2022 |doi=10.5210/fm.v27i11.12754 |doi-access=free |url=https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/download/12754/10720}} According to Wikipedia guidelines, all articles on Wikipedia's "mainspace" must be verifiable.{{Citation |title=Wikipedia:Verifiability |date=2022-04-18 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Verifiability&oldid=1083371781 |work=Wikipedia |language=en |access-date=2022-04-19}}
Limitations
When Wikipedia experiences vandalism, platforms that reuse Wikipedia's content may republish that vandalized content.{{cite web |last1=Funke |first1=Daniel |title=Wikipedia vandalism could thwart hoax-busting on Google, YouTube and Facebook |url=https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2018/wikipedia-vandalism-could-thwart-hoax-busting-on-google-youtube-and-facebook/ |website=Poynter |publisher=Poynter Institute |date=18 June 2018}} In 2016, journalists described how vandalism in Wikipedia undermines its use as a credible source.{{cite news |author1=A.E.S. |title=Wikipedia celebrates its first 15 years |url=https://www.economist.com/democracy-in-america/2016/01/15/wikipedia-celebrates-its-first-15-years |newspaper=The Economist |date=15 January 2016}}
Vandalism is prohibited by Wikipedia. The website suggests these steps for inexperienced beginners to handle vandalism: access, revert, warn, watch, and finally report.{{Citation |title=Wikipedia:Vandalism |date=2022-04-16 |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Vandalism&oldid=1082950649 |work=Wikipedia |language=en |access-date=2022-04-19}}
In 2018, Facebook and YouTube were major users of Wikipedia for its fact-checking functions, but those commercial platforms were not contributing to Wikipedia's free nonprofit operations in any way.
See also
Notes
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References
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Further consideration
- {{cite web |last1=Anker |first1=Andrew |last2=Su |first2=Sara |last3=Smith |first3=Jeff |title=New Test to Provide Context About Articles |url=https://about.fb.com/news/2017/10/news-feed-fyi-new-test-to-provide-context-about-articles/ |website=About Facebook |publisher=Facebook, Inc. |date=5 October 2017}}
- {{cite web |last1=Mohan |first1=Neal |last2=Kyncl |first2=Robert |title=Building a better news experience on YouTube, together |url=https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/building-better-news-experience-on/ |website=blog.youtube |publisher=YouTube |language=en-us |date=9 July 2018}}
External links
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Reliability, the English Wikipedia community project which self-organizes fact-checking
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