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teyit.org

Organization: Teyit
Applicant: Teyit Medya A.S.- Mehmet Atakan Foca
Assessor: Sarphan Uzunoğlu
Conclusion and recommendations
on 06-Sep-2019 (4 years ago)

Sarphan Uzunoğlu wrote:

They seem to be a totally compliant candidate. They are very transparent about their financial model and workflow. They are reachable and they produce on a very regular basis compared to other fact-checking outlets I've assessed so far.

on 06-Sep-2019 (4 years ago)

Sarphan Uzunoğlu recommended Accept


Section 1: Organization

Criterion 1a
Proof of registration
Evidence required: Please provide evidence that the signatory is a legally-registered organization set up exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking or the distinct fact-checking project of a recognized media house or research institution.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Teyit is a not-for-profit social enterprise that focuses on social impact. Because of institutional infrastructure for social enterprises are underway in Turkey Teyit operates under multiple institutional structures.

Research on media and social media is conducted by Teyit Media Research Association on behalf of teyit.org. Technology and training development studies are conducted by Dubium Bilişim Danışmanlık ve Ticaret Ltd. Şti. The only activity of the company is teyit.org.

The company, Dubium, have promised to not distribute its revenue to shareholders or head of the board.

The trademark of teyit.org is registered by Dubium. 

Files Attached
picture_as_pdf Onaylı Tüzük.pdf (3 MB) picture_as_pdf dubiumticsilgazsyf2.... (124 KB) picture_as_pdf dubiumticsilgazsyf1.... (123 KB) picture_as_pdf tasdik şerhi.pdf (484 KB) picture_as_pdf Patent Marka Tescil... (766 KB) picture_as_pdf Vergi Levhası 2018.p... (57 KB) picture_as_pdf karar-defteri-kar-da... (220 KB)
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

All the documents provided by Teyit.org  shows that they are a legally authorized institution and they are established exclusively for the purpose of fact-checking. 


done_all 1a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 1b
Archive
Evidence required: Insert a link to the archive of fact checks published in the previous three months. If you do not collect all fact checks in one place, please explain how the fact-checking is conducted by your organization.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago)
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Their website publishes fact-checks and reports more than once a day. This is a totally acceptable regularity.


done_all 1b marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Section 2: Nonpartisanship and Fairness

Criterion 2a
Body of work sample
Evidence required: Please share links to ten fact checks that better represent the scope and consistency of your fact-checking. Provide a short explanation of how your organization strives to maintain coherent standards across fact checks.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Teyit checks the viral claims on the internet which may possibly affect democratic processes or all the candidates during election periods:

https://teyit.org/2019-yerel-secimlerinde-internette-yayilan-yanlis-bilgiler/

Teyit collects the engagement data of misinformation and reports that.

https://teyit.org/yerel-secimler-boyunca-yayilan-yanlis-bilgileri-analiz-ettigimiz-sahte-haber-karnesi-cikti/

Claims which point as a target a person, organization or a community to propagate polarization or discriminate them, are another focus of Teyit:

https://teyit.org/turkiyede-yasayan-suriyelilerle-ilgili-internette-yayilan-22-yanlis-bilgi/

https://teyit.org/izmirde-uniformali-kisinin-kasitli-olarak-yangin-cikardigi-iddiasi/

https://teyit.org/nihat-hatipoglunun-programinda-ameliyatla-ilgili-soru-soran-tip-fakultesi-ogrencisi-iddiasi/

Teyit provides thinking methods about some debates with case studies:

https://teyit.org/vaka-calismasi-kirazlida-kac-agac-kesilmis-olabilir/

Teyit publishes analyses about the widespread misinformation on health issues which may affect public hygiene:

https://teyit.org/fotograftaki-sebzelerin-gdolu-oldugu-iddiasi/

https://teyit.org/fotografin-kansere-neden-olan-siyahlasmis-soganlari-gosterdigi-

Teyit's team shares editorial debates: 

https://teyit.org/etiket/serbest-kursu/

Teyit also defines the types of misinformation in Turkish:

https://teyit.org/sozluk-yanlis-bilginin-en-yaygin-7-turu/

And share the news and latest researches on fact-checking and misinformation:

https://teyit.org/konu/teyitpedia/

Teyit publishes analyses upon misleading or fabricated stories without choosing a political side of any political debate. The methodology of choosing claims and researching a suspicious content is very strict and Teyit performs in the frame of methodology for every claim.

To be immune from selection bias, the decision to research a story does not belong to one person on the team. Every day, the claims which are transmitted to Teyit are argued by editors after prioritization criteria had been implemented. Virality is the common prioritization criteria. Importance steps in if the fabricated stories are harmful to divided groups, minorities or innocent people. Urgency is the key prioritization criteria during crisis situations.

https://teyit.org/metodoloji-ve-ilkeler/

https://teyit.org/methodology

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Teyit is focusing on disinformation practices in Turkey's new media sphere. Their main focus is global social networks and they do not limit their categorical focus to science or politics. They have several topics fact-checked in their website. In addition, they perform in an objective way and the get statements from all sides of the story and use available fact-checking technologies in all cases.


done_all 2a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 2b
Nonpartisanship policy
Evidence required: Please share evidence of your policy preventing staff from direct involvement in political parties and advocacy organizations. Please also indicate the policy your organization has as a whole regarding advocacy and supporting political candidates.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago)

Teyit respects political diversity and the different worldviews of the team members. But Teyit does not allow any point of view to be effective on the verification processes. The worldviews of the subcontractors are not effective in any analysis or any work done by Teyit.

It has been indicated the agreements of full-time and part-time employees. Also, the playbook of Teyit which has been prepared to show how Teyit does fact-check for newcomers contains the same warning.

https://teyit.org/metodoloji-ve-ilkeler/

https://teyit.org/methodology

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Despite the political environment in Turkey; all the members/editors of Teyit team seem to keep very neutral in their daily conversations in social networks and their analyses. Even when I checked the critical dates such as the day ol local elections in March and re-election day in June; none of the seems to have broken their principles. 


done_all 2b marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Section 3: Transparency of Sources

Criterion 3a
Sources Policy
Please share a brief and public explanation (500 words max) of how sources are provided in enough detail that readers could replicate the fact check. If you have a public policy on how you find and use sources for your fact-checking, it should be shared here.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Every analysis contains external links to references and sources that help Teyit's fact-checkers to check the claim. Users can easily follow the links to see how Teyit's writers have verified the suspicious news.

In the main body of the every analysis, Teyit's fact-checkers put the archive links to the original sources against the possibility of editing the sources. The timestamps of the tools like teyit.link, archive.is or archive.org help Teyit to show users, what was the page looks like when Teyit's fact-checkers read them. On the right column, every piece of evidence is written with details. (Title, date, link, if the evidence based on a phone call, the date and time of the call)

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Besides enabling their archive.is alike service teyit.link; teyit has too many strict policies regarding dtection and presentation of the statements of the sources. Metadata regarding evidences are given in the right column and that is very reliable way of providing credibility for the source. It also creates credibility for the analysis itself.


done_all 3a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Section 4: Transparency of Funding & Organization

Criterion 4a
Funding Sources
Evidence required: Please link to the section where you publicly list your sources of funding (including, if they exist, any rules around which types of funding you do or don't accept), or a statement on ownership if you are the branch of an established media organization or research institution.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Year by year; funds and grants given to Teyit.org are archived in their nedir and about page. They seem to be accounting for most of their total value and recipient of funds and organizations that provide are clearly stated and referred by links.


done_all 4a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 4b
Staff
Evidence required: Please link to the section detailing all authors and key actors behind your fact-checking project with their biographies. You can also list the name and bios of the members of the editorial board, pool of experts, advisory board, etc. if your organization has those.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Members of the team and their roles are publicly listed in Turkish and English versions of their website. Biographies are indicated and social network profiles' links exist for each.


done_all 4b marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 4c
Contact
Evidence required: Please link to the section where readers can get in touch with the organization.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Their contact page including information regarding whatsapp report line seems good and interactive enough.


done_all 4c marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Section 5: Transparency of Methodology

Criterion 5a
Detailed Methodology
Evidence required: Please link to a section or article detailing the steps you follow for your fact-checking work.

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Their methodology is publicly available in Turkish and English and they have proper explanations about the way fact-checking works within their organizations. Also their internal notes are shared in their web site which makes their outlet more transparent about their activities.


done_all 5a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 5b
Claim submissions
Evidence required: Please link to the page or process through which readers can submit claims to fact-check. If you do not allow this, please briefly explain why.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

Internet users can send the suspicious and doubtful content via Website: https://teyit.org/ihbar-2/ Facebook: facebook.com/teyitorg Twitter: twitter.com/teyitorg and WhatsApp hotline: +90 (546) 474 54 40 Teyit gets 30 suspicious contents from those channels in daily average.

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

It is very clear from their website and social accounts that people can send their claims through their internal interfaces and Whatsapp line. They are allowed to both send supporting documents for their claims in addition to their text reports if needed.

There is no specific statement in their "report" page about what readers can legitimately expect will be fact-checked and what isn’t fact-checkable. They need to add such information to be totally compliant.


done 5b marked as Partially compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Section 6: Open & Honest Corrections Policy

Criterion 6a
Corrections policy
Evidence required: Please link to the page with your policy to address corrections. If it is not public, please share your organization's handbook.

Teyit
29-Aug-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago
Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

They have a certain methodology they apply in all their works. Their correction policy is publicly explained in their methodology and principles page. The work flow is totally explained and understandable.


done_all 6a marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.

Criterion 6b
Examples of corrections
Evidence required: Please provide two examples of a correction made, or correction requests handled, in the past year.

Sarphan Uzunoğlu Assessor
04-Sep-2019 (4 years ago) Updated: 4 years ago

They have provided us with two of their self corrections in both social network and their own website. 


done_all 6b marked as Fully compliant by Sarphan Uzunoğlu.