Methodology

Community consensus can make a claim eligible, but only a human contributor's action marks anything Verified. No automation ever promotes a claim.

We count how many independent trusted outlets — with live links — back a claim. Corroboration triages reviewer attention; it never substitutes for verification, and it decays automatically when links rot.

When a claim's text changes, prior verifications are voided, the claim returns to unverified, and the correction is logged permanently — the log cannot be edited or deleted.

We never publish accusatory claims about private individuals who were not charged or convicted — and we treat acquitted and exonerated people as equally protected. This rule is enforced in the data layer and cannot be overridden by anyone, including us.

Every signed-in contributor starts with a small baseline so their vote counts. Standing grows when verifications hold up and when someone catches one of our errors — that last one is weighted most. It eases off after a long time away and never drops below where you started. It is a trust signal that weights a vote, never a gate: more standing means more weight, not special permission.