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Real or Not Myanmar

Organization: Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
Applicant: Htaike Htaike Aung
Assessor: Tin Zar Aung

Background

This is an assessment for Real or Not, Fact-Checking program of MIDO assessed by Tin Zar Aung. According to the assessor’s finding that Real or Not is well established and has a commitment for regular updates of their fact-checking stories on their Page and Website. Real or Not is the first fact-checking initiative in Myanmar which has been working on verifying user-generated content and debunking mis/disinformation since 2015.

During these days, they are active and respond fast to mis/disinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic and General Election 2020 of Myanmar. Because of these, mis/ disinformation is spreading very fast on social media. People can be reachable on their page without any difficulties and find the fact-checking stories for every big mis/disinformation of Myanmar. Also Real or Not is running fact-checking messenger Chabot that is also the first one in Myanmar since 2019. Also, this is quite a prompt response. 

Assessment Conclusion

According to the assessment, Real or Not is completely compliant with the achievement of the principles of IFCN. Real or not is more likely active on fact-checking stories regarding political, economic, social, and health issues by using fact-checking methods and journalistic techniques. Most of their team members of fact-checkers used to be reporters. So they know journalism criteria. Seem like they are more strength on fact-checking methods and tools. Sometimes they contact the direct actor to confirm mis/disinformation. But they are fit in your criteria. Real or not is quite a strong and quick responsive fact-checking program in Myanmar.

on 02-Sep-2020 (3 years ago)

Tin Zar Aung assesses application as Compliant

A short summary in native publishing language

Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် အွန်လိုင်းပေါ်မှ သတင်းအချက်အလက် စီစစ်ခြင်းကို လုပ်ဆောင်ပေးသည့် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ ပထမဦးဆုံး အဖွဲ့အစည်းဖြစ်သည်။

Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် MIDO (ဖွံ့ဖြိုးမှုအတွက် မြန်အိုင်စီတီ အဖွဲ့) ၏ သတင်းအချက်အလက် စီစစ်ခြင်းကို ပြုလုပ်သည့် ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးအတွက် နည်းပညာ ခေါင်းစဉ်အောက်မှ ပရိုဂရမ် တစ်ခုဖြစ်သည်။ Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် သတင်းအမှားအမှန် စီစစ်ပေးခြင်း၊ သတင်းအမှားများ လူထုကြား မယုံကြည်စေရန် တိုက်ဖျက်ပေးခြင်းတို့ကို ဆောင်ရွက် ပေးပြီး သတင်းအသိပညာပေးခြင်းနှင့် သတင်းအချက် အလက် စီစစ်ခြင်း နည်းလမ်းများကို Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) ၏ ဖေ့စ်ဘွတ်စာမျက်နှာနှင့် ဝဘ်ဆိုဒ်များတွင် ဖော်ပြပေးသည်။

Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ ပထမဦးဆုံး Messenger Chatbot ကိုလည်း လုပ်ဆောင်နေပြီး လျှင်မြန်စွာ တုံ့ပြန်မှု လုပ်သည်။ အချက်အလက် စစ်ဆေးသည့် အဖွဲ့ဝင်အများစုသည် ဂျာနယ်လစ် ဖြစ်ခဲ့သူများ ဖြစ်ပြီး သူတို့သည် ဂျာနယ်လစ်ဇင်၏ စံနှုန်းများကို နားလည်သည်။ Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် အများအားဖြင့် အချက်အလက် စစ်ဆေးသည့် နည်းပညာများ၊ နည်းလမ်းများကို အသုံးပြုရန် အားသာသည်ဟု ယူဆရသည်။ တခါတရံတွင် အချက်အလက် စစ်ဆေးရန်အတွက် ပါဝင်ပတ်သက်သူများထံ တိုက်ရိုက် ဆက်သွယ်သည်။ သို့သော်လည်း ယင်းသို့ ဆက်သည်မှာ နည်းပါးသည်။

သို့သော်လည်း Real or Not (ဟုတ်တယ် Vs မဟုတ်ဘူး) သည် IFCN ၏ စံနှုန်း သတ်မှတ်ချက်များကို ပြည့်မီသည် ယူဆသည်။

Section 1: Eligibility to be a signatory

To be eligible to be a signatory, applicants must meet these six criteria

  • 1.1 The applicant is a legally registered organization, or a distinct team or unit within a legally registered organization, and details of this are easily found on its website.
  • 1.2 The team, unit or organization is set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking.
  • 1.3 The applicant has published an average of at least one fact check a week over the course of the six months prior to the date of application. For applicants from countries with at least 5 or more verified signatories need to have at least a fact check a week over the twelve months of publishing track. Consult to factchecknet@poynter.org for confirmation.
  • 1.4 On average, at least 75% of the applicant’s fact checks focus on claims related to issues that, in the view of the IFCN, relate to or could have an impact on the welfare or well-being of individuals, the general public or society.
  • 1.5 The applicant’s editorial output is not, in the view of the IFCN, controlled by the state, a political party or politician.
  • 1.6 If the organization receives funding from local or foreign state or political sources, it provides a statement on its site setting out to the satisfaction of the IFCN, how it ensures its funders do not influence the findings of its reports.

Criteria 1.1
Proof you meet criteria
Please explain where on your website you set out information about your organization’s legal status and how this complies with criteria. Attach a link to the relevant page of your website.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago)

Real or Not is a fact-checking project run by Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO) since 2015. MIDO is a Myanmar-based civil society organization. This information is available on the Real or Not website: https://www.realornotmm.info/about-us/

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

The Fact-checking project, Real or Not that is initiative project of MIDO since 2015. MIDO is a registered organization under Myanmar's law. And they have a team under this law and also they have different team members to run Real or Not that has not registered yet. Even they registered their organization, MIDO, it is not easily found on their website or page. 


done_all 1.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 1.2
Proof you meet criteria
Please answer the following questions – (see notes in Guidelines for Application on how to answer)

 1. When and why was your fact-checking operation started?
 2. How many people work or volunteer in the organization and what are their roles?
 3. What different activities does your organization carry out?
 4. What are the goals of your fact-checking operation over the coming year?

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
  1.  When and why was your fact-checking operation started?

    As a thought leader on digital rights, MIDO recognised that the rise of social media use in Myanmar - especially linked to the landmark 2015 general elections - made fake news a powerful tool in fostering conflict and violence in society. To mitigate the impact of mis/disinformation in threatening peace and social harmony, MIDO launched the Real or Not Fact-checking Program in 2015.

  2. How many people work or volunteer in the organization and what are their roles?

    All Real or Not team members are part of MIDO’s 30 full-time staff. Real or Not have 3 full time fact-checkers and 5 part-time operations managers. An additional fact-checker will join the team in June. Real or Not also works on media and digital literacy in connection to fact-checking and to increase public awareness about mis/disinformation. The team also develops curricula and provides training on fact-checking to local media outlets.


  3. What different activities does your organization carry out?

    MIDO’s main areas of work:

    1. Advocacy: we work on promoting digital rights based on international human rights standards and norms.
    2. Research: we conduct research on the misinformation ecosystem, social media in Myanmar, peace building in the digital age and digital inclusion, among others.
    3. Education and training: we develop curricula and provide training on media/digital literacy, fact-checking and digital security.
    4. Social media monitoring and fact-checking: Real or Not is our flagship fact-checking initiative.


  4.   What are the goals of your fact-checking operation over the coming year?

    Real or Not aims to continue publishing well-researched fact-checking articles multiple times a week. As a team, we will deepen our expertise on fact-checking methods related to budget transparency, economics, investment, environmental impact, health, and politics. We also plan to conduct more interviews with sources linked to fact-check stories and experts who can raise public awareness on the importance of digital literacy and fighting mis/disinformation. Real or Not will continue to run its public Viber channel to tackle misinformation related to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. 

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

The fact-checking project, Real or Not, has a team to set up for the purpose of fact-checking. They started this fact-checking project since 2015 a part of the initial fact check project of MIDO. MIDO has an exclusive team for this fact-checking program, Real or Not. According to the applicants' answers, they have full-time exclusive team members for this fact-checking program, and also they have part-time managers to supervise the fact-checkers. 

From my point of view as an assessor, they meet criteria 1.2. 

The link is their team profile : 

https://www.realornotmm.info/team-profile-english/?lang=en



done_all 1.2 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 1.3
Proof you meet criteria
- The applicant has published an average of at least one fact check a week over the course of the six months prior to the date of application.
- For applicants from countries with at least 5 or more verified signatories need to have at least a fact check a week over the twelve months of publishing track.
- Consult to factchecknet@poynter.org for confirmation.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not, fact-checking website (including Facebook) has been published the fact check articles at least 3 or 4 stories per week on their pages. This rate is estimate numbers from the randomized sample of assessor before Covid-19 positive cases in Myanmar. After finding Covid-19 positive cases in Myanmar (this was late of March 2020), Real or Not has been more active before. As soon as Myanmar found COVID-19 positive cases, rumors, and myths are spreading with the fast speed on social media. So people need more fact-checking stories based on facts and Real or Not has published fact checks at least 6 or 7 stories per week. They used to publish 2 or 3 fact check stories per day in some days. 

For Criteria 1.3, they meet this based on the assessor's assessment.  


done_all 1.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 1.4
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will assess compliance through a review of the fact checks published over the previous three months. No additional information required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

According to the assessment of over 3 months fact checks on Real or Not, all of their fact checks are related to the impacts on the welfare of individuals, the general public, and society. Most of their fact check stories during the three months are effective to the general public and individual because at that time Covid-19 pandemic was escalating in Myanmar. According to the Covid-19 pandemic, tons of rumors and myths are spreading to the general public through social media. These all are impacted by the real lives of people. Almost all of the Fact check stories of Real or Not during these months are regarding with Covid-19. And they have been published the fact check stories regarding misinformation, rumors, and myths. 


done_all 1.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 1.5
Proof you meet criteria
Please explain any commercial, financial and/or institutional relationship your organization has to the state, politicians or political parties in the country or countries you cover. Also explain funding or support received from foreign as well as local state or political actors over the previous financial year.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

MIDO’s relationship with state and political actors in Myanmar and abroad is based on the principles of our Non-partisanship Policy. This allows us to provide policy advice and training to public officials and political actors on a non-partisan and non-exclusive basis while remaining independent from the influence of any political agenda. You can find the policy here: https://www.realornotmm.info/non-partisanship-policy/?lang=en

MIDO shared detailed information with IFCN on our funding sources.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
The output of Real or Not is not controlled be State, political party or politician. According to their code of conduct, they described very clearly that they follow non-partisanship policy. Based on the information of assessor, they receive the funding from Local and international organizations. 

done_all 1.5 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 1.6
Proof you meet criteria
If you confirmed the organization receives funding from local or foreign state or political sources, provide a link to where on your website you set out how you ensure the editorial independence of your work.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

MIDO’s Non-partisanship Policy and Real or Not’s Code of Conduct set out our commitment to editorial independence, including from MIDO’s donors. You can find them here: https://www.realornotmm.info/non-partisanship-policy/?lang=en

MIDO shared detailed information with IFCN on our funding sources.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Definitely they received the funding from Local and International organizations as their main funding sources according to the assessor’s information. Although they haven’t mentioned their funding sources to be seen clearly on their page and site, they follow non-partisanship policy for all employees, interns, volunteers and members of board.

The link is their Code of Conduct and explanation of non-partisanship policy.

 https://www.realornotmm.info/non-partisanship-policy/?lang=en



done_all 1.6 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Section 2: A commitment to Non-partisanship and Fairness

To be compliant on nonpartisanship and fairness, applicants must meet these five criteria

  • 2.1 The applicant fact-checks using the same high standards of evidence and judgement for equivalent claims regardless of who made the claim.
  • 2.2 The applicant does not unduly concentrate its fact-checking on any one side, considers the reach and importance of claims it selects to check and publishes a short statement on its website to set out how it selects claims to check.
  • 2.3 The applicant discloses in its fact checks relevant interests of the sources it quotes where the reader might reasonably conclude those interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided. It also discloses in its fact checks any commercial or other such relationships it has that a member of the public might reasonably conclude could influence the findings of the fact check.
  • 2.4 The applicant is not as an organization affiliated with nor declares or shows support for any party, any politician or political candidate, nor does it advocate for or against any policy positions on any issues save for transparency and accuracy in public debate.
  • 2.5 The applicant sets out its policy on non-partisanship for staff on its site. Save for the issues of accuracy and transparency, the applicant’s staff do not get involved in advocacy or publicise their views on policy issues the organization might fact check in such a way as might lead a reasonable member of the public to see the organization’s work as biased.

Criteria 2.1
Proof you meet criteria
Please share links to 10 fact checks published over the past year that you believe demonstrate your non-partisanship.
Please briefly explain how the fact checks selected show that (I) you use the same high standards of evidence for equivalent claims, (II) follow the same essential process for every fact check and (III) let the evidence dictate your conclusions.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Our fact-check process is driven by evidence based on a wide range of online sources we consult with the help of our verification tool set, and on the input of trusted experts. The published fact check stories aim to answer three basic questions:

1. Relevance: why does this story need to be verified?

2. Methodology: how is this story verified?

3. Real or Not: what are the facts based on the evidence we found?


Ten fact-check stories:

1. False video about the civil war in Northern Shan State

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/08/17/lashio-fighting-war-northern-shan-false-video/


2. Facebook page aiming to spread disinformation about the elections

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/09/20/election-disinformation-facebook-page/


3. False claims about a cold wave in Myanmar between December 24 and 29 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/11/17/coldwave_will_occur_during_dec24_to_29/


4. Misleading news about the retirement of a rector monk 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/11/13/dr-nandamalabhivamsa_retire_misleading_news/


5. False video about pro-Rohingya protest against the government during the ICJ hearing

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/12/10/netherlands-thehague-icj-rohingya-supporters-protest-false-video-disinformation/


6. Using old photos from 2017 as anti-Rohingya propaganda

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/12/11/using_oldphotos_from_2017_as_rohingya_propaganda/


7. False video about child kidnapping

https://www.realornotmm.info/2019/12/05/false_video_about_child_kidnapping_myitkyina/


8. False news about Rathedaung Thameehla village burning

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/02/14/rathedaung-thameehla-village-fire-falsenews/


9. False news about the Myanmar military burning a member of the Arakan Army

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/02/24/aa-false-news-burning-youth-disinformation/


10. Clickbait pages selling chloroquine-based medicine claiming to cure COVID-19 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/03/30/fact-check-chloroquine-false-news

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Regarding the fact checks of Real or Not, their stories are using a high standard of evidence for the claims regardless of who made the claim. Assessor read randomly the fact checks on their page and their sample stories as well. Based on these stories, they use a high standard of evidence for every story. They collected and put the sources as much as they can for every single fact checks to verify that is false. They used the dependable sources (from media and reliable sources) to be proving for their fact checks. Most of the stories, they tried to get reliable sources. Their fact checks are used the equivalent evidence regardless of who made the claims. 

Sample stories: 

1. False news about MRTV (Myanma Radio and Television) published news that Military is rebel armed organization 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/05/22/fact-check-tatmadaw-manipulated-video/

2. False news about regional MP fraud funding money from fever clinic of Covid-19 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/05/19/fact-check-south-dagon-representative-u-nyi-nyi-cheat-the-donation-money-disinformation/

3.False news about two staffs of Facebook Myanmar team infected Covid-19 

https://www.realornotmm.info/2020/04/15/fact-check-facebook-team-covid-19-infected-two-myanmar-employees-disinformation/



done_all 2.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 2.2
Proof you meet criteria
Please share a link to a place on your website where you explain how you select claims to check, explaining how you ensure you do not unduly concentrate your fact-checking on any one side, and how you consider the reach and importance of the claims you select to check.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago)
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

For every stage of fact checks, they followed the detailed methodology mentioned on their web page. Regarding their methodology, Real or Not selected the stories with some criteria. They mentioned why the claims need to fact check, how do they verify and find fact-based evidence. 

Detailed methodology can be found on this page.

 https://www.realornotmm.info/methodology/?lang=en


done_all 2.2 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 2.3
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will assess compliance through a review of the fact checks published over the previous year. No additional information required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or not based on the facts for their fact check stories. According to the reviews of the stories over the past year, the applicant’s fact check stories are more like focused on facts that are from reliable sources. These sources are from independent media and primary sources for every relevant claim. Although they used reliable sources as much as they can, they haven't used to disclose the relevant interest and relationship. Sometimes they used the primary sources for confirmation. 


done_all 2.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 2.4
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will assess compliance through a review of the fact checks published over the previous year. No additional information required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

The fact check stories of Real or Not are strongly based on facts from trustworthy sources. Real or not is not an organization affiliated with any party, politician, or political candidate? Most of their fact checks are focused on public interested issues. And MIDO, the mother organization of Real or Not is a non-partisan organization. Their advocacy work focuses on digital rights based on international human rights norms and standards and is not influenced by any political agenda. This is based on reviews of the assessor over the past year. 

The link is their non-partisanship policy detail; 

https://www.realornotmm.info/non-partisanship-policy/?lang=en

                                                                                                         


done_all 2.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 2.5
Proof you meet criteria
Please share a link to a place on your website where you publish a statement setting out your policy on non-partisanship for staff and how it ensures the organization meets this criteria.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not follows the Non-partisanship policy that is a clear statement on what is the policy and every staffs has to follow the policy and also they have clear code of conduct.

For more detail, can find the following link:

 https://www.realornotmm.info/non-partisanship-policy/?lang=en



done_all 2.5 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Section 3: A commitment to Standards and Transparency of Sources

To be compliant on sources, applicants must meet these four criteria

  • 3.1 The applicant identifies the source of all significant evidence used in their fact checks, providing relevant links where the source is available online, in such a way that users can replicate their work if they wish. In cases where identifying the source would compromise the source’s personal security, the applicant provides as much detail as compatible with the source’s safety.
  • 3.2 The applicant uses the best available primary, not secondary, sources of evidence wherever suitable primary sources are available. Where suitable primary sources are not available, the applicant explains the use of a secondary source.
  • 3.3 The applicant checks all key elements of claims against more than one named source of evidence save where the one source is the only source relevant on the topic.
  • 3.4 The applicant identifies in its fact checks the relevant interests of the sources it uses where the reader might reasonably conclude those interests could influence the accuracy of the evidence provided.

Criteria 3.1
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the applicant’s use of sources in a randomised sample of its fact checks to assess compliance. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not dedicated to identify the sources in their fact check stories and provide relevant links and online content as strong evidence. Sometimes Real or Not used primary sources. More than that, Real or Not is careful the safety of sources if they need to call to verify the stories and they informed very well to the sources that they will be used in the fact check stories and quoted. If the sources are from sensitive areas, Real or not is careful about the safety of sources and they will be used as anonymous.

The link is about their Methodology

 https://www.realornotmm.info/methodology/?lang=en


done_all 3.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 3.2
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the applicant’s use of sources in a randomised sample of its fact checks to assess compliance. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not used to practice putting the sources as much as they get to verify the claims. Whenever they use the sources for their fact checks, they used the primary sources mostly by describing the links from mainstreaming media and other reliable sources. Sometimes they used technology tools to verify the false news and primary sources. These are based on the assessor's randomized assessment over the past years.                                                                                                          


done_all 3.2 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 3.3
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the applicant’s use of sources in a randomised sample of its fact checks to assess compliance. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or not has been used the reliable sources whatever they can reach online and primary sources. And they used all key elements to verify the claims against more than one source that are more likely non-human sources they used. Here, non- human sources mean the sources are from mainstream media sources and all sources that can be reachable. And they used the technical tools like Google image Reserve search, Tin Eye, etc. These are based on the assessor's randomized samples over the past year.                                                                                                        


done_all 3.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 3.4
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the applicant’s use of sources in a randomised sample of its fact checks to assess compliance. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

The fact check stories of Real or Not are based on fact-based evidenced information. According to the reviews by the assessor on the stories over the past year, the applicant’s fact checks are more likely focused on facts that are from mainstream media and reliable sources. Although they used reliable sources as much as they reached, they haven't used to disclose the relevant interest and relationship. 


done_all 3.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Section 4: A commitment to Transparency of Funding & Organization

To be compliant on funding and organization, applicants must meet these five criteria

  • 4.1 Applicants that are independent organizations have a page on their website detailing each source of funding accounting for 5% or more of total revenue for its previous financial year. This page also sets out the legal form in which the organization is registered (e.g. as a non-profit, as a company etc).
  • 4.2 Applicants that are the fact-checking section or unit of a media house or other parent organization make a statement on ownership.
  • 4.3 A statement on the applicant’s website sets out the applicant’s organizational structure and makes clear how and by whom editorial control is exercised.
  • 4.4 A page on the applicant’s website details the professional biography of all those who, according to the organizational structure and play a significant part in its editorial output.
  • 4.5 The applicant provides easy means on its website and/or via social media for users to communicate with the editorial team.

Criteria 4.1
Proof you meet criteria
Please confirm whether you are an ‘independent organization’
or ‘the fact-checking section or unit of a media house or other parent organization’ and share proof of this organizational status.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago)

Real or Not is a fact-checking project run by Myanmar ICT for Development Organization (MIDO). MIDO is an independent civil society organization.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not is a fact-checking project run by MIDO that is independent and registered organization. Real or Not has been started since 2015 and it has a separate team for fact-check purposes. Even though Real or Not is project of  MiDO, the mother organization of Real or Not, is registered under Myanmar Law.


done_all 4.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 4.2
Proof you meet criteria
If your organization is an “independent organization”, please share a link to the page on your website where you detail your funding and indicate the legal form in which the organization is registered (e.g. as a non-profit, as a company etc).
If your organization is “the fact-checking section or unit of a media house or other parent organization”, please share a link to the statement on your website about your ownership.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

-

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not is a fact-checking project run by MIDO that is an independent and registered organization in Myanmar. Real or Not has been started since 2015 and it has a separate team for fact-check purposes. 

The link is about their fact check organization and parent organization.  But Real or Not hasn’t mentioned the sources of funding on their page or website.

https://www.realornotmm.info/about-us/?lang=en



cancel 4.2 marked as Non-compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 4.3
Proof you meet criteria
Please share a link to where on your website you set out your organizational structure, making clear how and by whom editorial control is exercised.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago)
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Real or Not has an independent team for the fact-checking purposes under MIDO. The organization structure will be found on their page very clear and also the verification methodology and kind of editorial control can be seen on their page.


The following links are relevant ones for this criteria. 

https://www.realornotmm.info/methodology/?lang=en


https://www.realornotmm.info/team-profile-english/?lang=en

                                                                                          


done_all 4.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 4.4
Proof you meet criteria
Please share a link to where on your website you set out the professional biographies of those who play a significant part in your organization’s editorial output.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Real or Not has an independent team by organizing the professional team members for the purpose of fact-checking. All of their team members are relevant professionals for their respective duties. Their profile and structure can be seen very clearly on their page.


The link is their profile:      

https://www.realornotmm.info/team-profile-english/?lang=en                                                                                


done_all 4.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 4.5
Proof you meet criteria
Please share a link to where on your website you encourage users to communicate with your editorial team.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

All contact information can be found here: https://www.realornotmm.info/about-us/

Users can submit claims and correction requests through dedicated forms on the website.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not provided the easy ways to the audiences to communicate with the team to request the claims to verify that is true or not. The audience can request to Real or Not that they wanted to know the claim is true or not. The audience can communicate with two ways that is a request form and ChatBot.

The links are for reference:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdhkCRjJ8Vy-JXqadorRkHgUhi6FcaM-q1cz1zXB71RPSw_Pg/viewform

 https://web.facebook.com/realornot.mm/



done_all 4.5 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Section 5: A commitment to Standards and Transparency of Methodology

To be compliant on methodology, applicants must meet these six criteria

  • 5.1 The applicant publishes on its website a statement about the methodology it uses to select, research, write and publish its fact checks.
  • 5.2 The applicant selects claims to check based primarily on the reach and importance of the claims, and where possible explains the reason for choosing the claim to check.
  • 5.3 The applicant sets out in its fact checks relevant evidence that appears to support the claim as well as relevant evidence that appears to undermine it.
  • 5.4 The applicant in its fact checks assesses the merits of the evidence found using the same high standards applied to evidence on equivalent claims, regardless of who made the claim.
  • 5.5 The applicant seeks where possible to contact those who made the claim to seek supporting evidence, noting that (I) this is often not possible with online claims, (II) if the person who makes the claim fails to reply in a timely way this should not impede the fact check, (III) if a speaker adds caveats to the claim, the fact-checker should be free to continue with checking the original claim, (IV) fact-checkers may not wish to contact the person who made the claim for safety or other legitimate reasons.
  • 5.6 The applicant encourages users to send in claims to check, while making it clear what readers can legitimately expect will be fact-checked and what isn’t fact-checkable.

Criteria 5.1
Proof you meet criteria
Please provide a link to the statement on your website that explains the methodology you use to select, research, write and publish your fact checks.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago)
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not publishes the statement of the methodology that they have been used for every single fact check stories. It was published on the websites very clearly and it mentions all steps of their fact checks process. The following steps that they used for fact checks:

1.How does Real or Not select the stories

2.Sources that they used to verify

3.How does Real or Not conduct a fact check?

4.How is their response if they make mistake

The link is for reference:

  https://www.realornotmm.info/methodology/?lang=en



done_all 5.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 5.2
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the methodology used in a randomised sample of your fact checks to assess compliance with these criteria. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Real or Not has the criteria why they select the claims to fact check. They have three criteria when they select the claims. And they mentioned the criteria on their methodology page on Real or Not website. As the randomized sample of the assessor, they followed their criteria to debunk the claims. They select the claims that more likely focused on the public interest for the Country and important issues that will be high potential risk to society. For choosing claims to debunk, Fact checking team leader and program manager make the decision. 

done_all 5.2 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 5.3
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the methodology used in a randomised sample of your fact checks to assess compliance with these criteria. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not used the relevant evidence when they debunk the claims, all of the evidence are supportive to undermine the claims. And they used the relevant evidence as much as they can find with different approaches such as using mainstream media sources, primary sources, and technology tools. As per the randomized sample of assessors, they used different kinds of strong evidence for their fact checks. 


done_all 5.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 5.4
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the methodology used in a randomised sample of your fact checks to assess compliance with these criteria. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not used the same standards of evidence when they debunk the claims. They collected the strong evidences with different approaches, these are regardless of who made the claims according to the randomized sample of assessor. All of their samples based on assessor-randomized selection are used same standard of evidences. 


done_all 5.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 5.5
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the methodology used in a randomised sample of your fact checks to assess compliance with these criteria. No additional evidence is required.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not follows the methodology for their fact check and they supported the strong evidence for all of their stories. According to the randomized sample of assessor, mostly Real or Not used different supportive documents and sources when they debunk the claims. Most of their evidence are reliable mainstream media, official page and accounts of Government agencies and officials and other dependable sources. And they used primary sources if they can. Based on the randomized assessment, they used not to contact who made the claims if it is online. 


done_all 5.5 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 5.6
Proof you meet criteria
Please describe how you encourage users to send in claims to check, while making it clear what readers can legitimately expect will be fact-checked and what isn’t fact-checkable. Include links where appropriate. If you do not allow this, explain why.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

We encourage users to submit claims via our Messenger Chatbot and the website by sharing a weekly reminder on Facebook on Mondays, and answering comments on our social media platforms about claims-related inquiries. See examples of our Facebook posts here from 2020 March2019 November, and 2018 September.

Every individual who sends us a claim gets a response. We either send the fact-checking article from our website, or if the story is not misinformation, we send proof that it’s true - a link to a trusted online source. We don’t debunk pop culture and celebrity news - we answer to such claims as well, and make it clear that because of our mission we prioritise news on social and political harmony.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not opens the channels to send the claims that the readers wanted to know this is true or not. The readers can send the claims with two channels that is a request form and a messenger chatbot. One of the criteria of Real or Not to debunk the claim is the numbers of the claims submitted by the readers. But for the final decision whether it will do fact check or not is rely on the team leader and Manager of Fact-checking team. And they announce and remind the public that they can send the claims if they want to know that is true or not. They do well to inform the public about their channels to send the claims. 

The followings are their channels: 

https://www.messenger.com/t/realornot.mm 

https://www.realornotmm.info/submit-claims/


done_all 5.6 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Section 6: A commitment to an Open & Honest Corrections Policy

To be compliant on corrections policy, applicants must meet these five criteria

  • 6.1 The applicant has a corrections or complaints policy that is easily visible and accessible on the organization’s website or frequently referenced in broadcasts.
  • 6.2 The policy sets out clear definitions of what it does and does not cover, how major mistakes, especially those requiring revised conclusions of a fact check, are handled, and the fact that some complaints may justify no response. This policy is adhered to scrupulously.
  • 6.3 Where credible evidence is provided that the applicant has made a mistake worthy of correction, the applicant makes a correction openly and transparently, seeking as far as possible to ensure that users of the original see the correction and the corrected version.
  • 6.4 The applicant, if an existing signatory, should either on its corrections/complaints page or on the page where it declares itself an IFCN signatory inform users that if they believe the signatory is violating the IFCN Code, they may inform the IFCN, with a link to the IFCN site.
  • 6.5 If the applicant is the fact-checking unit of a media company, it is a requirement of signatory status that the parent media company has and adheres to an open and honest corrections policy.

Criteria 6.1
Proof you meet criteria
Please provide a link to where you publish on your website your corrections or complaints policy. If you are primarily a broadcaster, please provide evidence you frequently reference your corrections policy in broadcasts.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not has a clear policy for corrections and it can be seen on their webpage. They mentioned under methodology guidelines on the webpage that they have correction policies. And also they mentioned that the audience thinks they made an error, the audience can do correction requests with different forms such as Facebook, email, phone, and complaint request form. And they committed that they will respond to every request and if they found that they did mistake, they will do the correction within 24 hours. And also Real or Not has the separate category for Correction page on their webpage. Also, they will do a prompt responses on Real or Not Facebook page. As the point of view of the assessor, Real or Not mentioned very clear that they made a mistake if they found, and then they will announce correction. 


done_all 6.1 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 6.2
Proof you meet criteria
The assessor will review the corrections policy to verify it meets critera. No additional information needed.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Real or Not has a policy for correction and they mentioned clearly if they made mistake, the audience can request to be correction to them. According to their correction policy, if the receive the correction request, they will response every request. And then they will determine whether they did mistake or not. If they found they did mistake, they will make the correction within 24 hours. According to their policy, every mistake that they will response regardless with other influences. 

done_all 6.2 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 6.3
Proof you meet criteria
Please provide a short statement about how the policy was adhered to over the previous year (or six months if this is the first application) including evidence of two examples of the responses provided by the applicant to a correction request over the previous year. Where no correction request has been made in the previous year, you must state this in your application, which will be publicly available in the assessment if your application is successful.

Myanmar ICT for Development Organization
28-May-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

Real or Not formalised its corrections policy in 2020 February and applied it in one case since - see the link below. Previously, corrections were made whenever necessary, and content was amended on both the Real or Not website and Facebook page.

https://www.realornotmm.info/corrections/

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

According to Real or Not, they started correction policy in 2020, February. According to the assessor, they make correction openly and transparently on their correction page and also they link with the revised article. But their correction policy is started only five months later, only one correction we can see on the page. 


done_all 6.3 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 6.4
Proof you meet criteria
If you are an existing signatory, please provide a link to show where on your site you inform users that if they believe you are violating the IFCN Code, they may inform the IFCN of this, with a link to the complaints page on the IFCN site.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago

As Real or not is not an existing signatory, it has no link between their page and IFCN page. 


done_all 6.4 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.

Criteria 6.5
Proof you meet criteria
If you are the fact-checking unit of a media company, please provide a link to the parent media company’s honest and open corrections policy and provide evidence that it adheres to this.

Tin Zar Aung Assessor
08-Jun-2020 (3 years ago) Updated: 3 years ago
Real or not is not the fact-checking unit of media company. 

done_all 6.5 marked as Compliant by Tin Zar Aung.