EscalateTruth checks media facts and filters out fake news
StartupRealities No 16
EscalateTruth Limited is a fact-checking, fact-verification and fake news filtering company that plays the role of "arbiter of truth" in media. The company's verification process does not involve judgements on matters of opinion (e.g. is Donald Trump good or bad) but flags incorrect facts, fake news and factual lies.
VERIFICATION PROCESS
The company's fact checking and verification process goes through four hierarchical levels:
1. ALERT
An investigation is triggered either after notification by a human reader or automatically as a result of an AI algorithm (spider or bot) spotting potentially incorrect factual information in the media. Whenever a reader uses the "citation needed" label (commonly seen on Wikipedia) to tag a piece of information, this triggers an investigation by EscalateTruth.
2. POPULAR VOTE
The disputed facts are put to popular vote among online readers, who are given three possible options: True; False; or Uncertain. When a sufficient number of people have voted, the numbers are recorded and processed through a statistical algorithm. A verdict is reached if more than 90% of votes support the True or False option.
3. PHILOSOPHERS PANEL
Disputed facts that fail to pass the 90% True or 90% False voting threshold are escalated to a panel of randomly-allocated philosophers. The company uses philosophy graduates and professors for the panels as philosophers are best positioned to see both sides of an argument. If the philosophers panel reaches a True or False verdict with an 80% majority, the decision is final and the verification process is completed. However, a panel may also reach an Uncertain verdict, in which case the panel decides whether to label the disputed fact as Unverifiable (e.g. "does god exist?") or to refer it to a panel of subject / industry experts.
4. EXPERTS PANEL
A panel of experts on the respective subject or in the respective industry are requested to weigh in if the philosophers refer an Uncertain disputed fact to them. The experts also need to reach an 80% majority for a True or False verdict to be declared. Facts that fall short of an 80% majority vote are labelled as Unverifiable.
The verdict reached in the verification process appears as a tag next to the disputed fact.
REVENUE MODEL
EscalateTruth is financed through an advertising revenue split under agreement with leading social media companies and search engines.
QUOTE BY CEO
"Experts are always useful but above all we love our panels of philosophers," said company CEO Pret Ture. "Philosophers almost always have their finger on the pulse: even when just a single philosopher says something is True, then it is likely to be #PrettyTrue. And the other way round: if they say it is False, it is #PrettyFalse 99% of the time," concluded Ture.
EscalateTruth Limited is a fact-checking, fact-verification and fake news filtering company that plays the role of "arbiter of truth" in media. The company's verification process does not involve judgements on matters of opinion (e.g. is Donald Trump good or bad) but flags incorrect facts, fake news and factual lies.
VERIFICATION PROCESS
The company's fact checking and verification process goes through four hierarchical levels:
1. ALERT
An investigation is triggered either after notification by a human reader or automatically as a result of an AI algorithm (spider or bot) spotting potentially incorrect factual information in the media. Whenever a reader uses the "citation needed" label (commonly seen on Wikipedia) to tag a piece of information, this triggers an investigation by EscalateTruth.
2. POPULAR VOTE
The disputed facts are put to popular vote among online readers, who are given three possible options: True; False; or Uncertain. When a sufficient number of people have voted, the numbers are recorded and processed through a statistical algorithm. A verdict is reached if more than 90% of votes support the True or False option.
3. PHILOSOPHERS PANEL
Disputed facts that fail to pass the 90% True or 90% False voting threshold are escalated to a panel of randomly-allocated philosophers. The company uses philosophy graduates and professors for the panels as philosophers are best positioned to see both sides of an argument. If the philosophers panel reaches a True or False verdict with an 80% majority, the decision is final and the verification process is completed. However, a panel may also reach an Uncertain verdict, in which case the panel decides whether to label the disputed fact as Unverifiable (e.g. "does god exist?") or to refer it to a panel of subject / industry experts.
4. EXPERTS PANEL
A panel of experts on the respective subject or in the respective industry are requested to weigh in if the philosophers refer an Uncertain disputed fact to them. The experts also need to reach an 80% majority for a True or False verdict to be declared. Facts that fall short of an 80% majority vote are labelled as Unverifiable.
The verdict reached in the verification process appears as a tag next to the disputed fact.
REVENUE MODEL
EscalateTruth is financed through an advertising revenue split under agreement with leading social media companies and search engines.
- The company takes 0.01% of the ad revenue of pages that have required verification below Level 3.
- The company takes 1.0% of the ad revenue of pages that have required verification at Level 3 or Level 4 and the facts have been confirmed as True or Unverifiable.
- The company receives 100% of the ad revenue of pages that have been found to contain falsehoods at Level 3 or Level 4 of the verification process.
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| Senate House, London (Source: Wikipedia) |
"Experts are always useful but above all we love our panels of philosophers," said company CEO Pret Ture. "Philosophers almost always have their finger on the pulse: even when just a single philosopher says something is True, then it is likely to be #PrettyTrue. And the other way round: if they say it is False, it is #PrettyFalse 99% of the time," concluded Ture.
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