Istanbul, Turkey – Every day, Emre İlkan Saklica scrolls through endless social media feeds, delving into the latest trends and browsing through news reports, with just one goal: debunk false claims.
Saklica is head of editorial at Teyit, Turkey’s largest independent fact-checking organisation. For more than five years, Teyit has been using a variety of channels to fight false information in the country’s public discourse – not just what is perpetuated publicly on social or traditional media but also in closed networks such as chat groups in apps like WhatsApp.
“Our biggest helpers are our followers,” said Saklica. “They are sometimes not sure about the accuracy of the information they encounter on the internet and they send us some links.”
Saklica and his colleagues go through those tips from the public, along with what is being discussed in the news. What needs to be fact checked is then prioritised, based on how widespread and important the claim is, as well as its urgency and whether it can actually be verified.
“Sometimes you can get results in just a few seconds,” said Saklica, calling Turkey’s disinformation and misinformation problem “very big”.
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Source: How Turkey’s largest fact-checking group tackles disinformation | Al Jazeera