Fact Provenance

Fact Provenance is one of the core initiatives/tools of Fact Protocol. Conceptualized and proposed as an open standard to establish provenance for free-flowing information on the web. The goal is to equip consumers with the ability to fact-check and validate the information they see online.

Fact Provenance proposes a group of structured data markup (Schema.org compliant) tags and variants to cater to the variety of content delivery platforms such as fact-checking portals, news websites/apps, search engines, social media networks, etc. Access more details below.

factProvenanceTag (Fact Check)

Fact Check schema specified in Google documentation for Fact Check structured data provides a structured data markup for fact-checkers to publish the results of their fact-checking efforts on the web. However, it does not provide a complete trail of information, from the source of a piece of information to its distribution and verification.

In order to provide this complete trail of information and make it more robust for users to identify fake news, misinformation, and disinformation, Fact Protocol proposes the Fact Provenance Tag open standard. The Fact Provenance Tag open standard provides a transparent and easily accessible trail of information, starting from the source of the information to its distribution and verification.

By integrating the Google Fact Check schema with the Fact Provenance Tag open-standard, we are providing a more comprehensive and user-friendly solution for fact-checkers and fact repositories such as Fact Protocol. The integration involves adding the factProvenanceTag property (an example is provided in the documentation) to the Google Fact Check schema, which links to the Fact Provenance Tag data.

The advantages of this integration are numerous:

1. It provides a complete trail of information: With the integration of the two schemas, fact-checkers can now provide users with a complete trail of information, starting from the source of information to its distribution and verification.
2. It helps users assess the reliability of the information: The integration makes it easier for users to assess the reliability of the information, as they can now follow the journey of a piece of information and identify any inaccuracies or manipulation.
3. It enhances the user experience: By providing a complete trail of information, the integration enhances the user experience, as— users can now consume highly trusted information instead of unreliable or questionable content.

factProvenanceTag (News Article)

With Fact Provenance Tag, News publishers can provide transparency and establish the original sources for the factual information they cover in their news articles, allowing readers to access and verify the sources themselves. Provenance Tag for News articles is similar to Provenance Tag for Fact-checks, but for news articles, it is quite straightforward because publishers only add the original/primary sources for the news they are covering in their articles.

Examples of original/primary sources include official press releases, interviews, public speeches, scientific journals, etc.

The advantages of News Article Provenance Tag:

1. Facilitates transparency.
2. Increases trust in publishers.
3. Enhances the user experience: By providing a source of information, it enhances the user experience, as— users can now consume highly trusted information instead of unreliable or questionable content.
4. Many use cases (see below).

Tools: Fact Provenance Tag Generator | Tag Checker

Use cases envisioned based on mediums that disseminate large amounts of information globally

Open-sourced. Community-led.