Full Fact 2022 – 2025

This project will continue our support for Full Fact in its work to explore and respond to the impact of misinformation and information quality.

The rise of online information and communication is fundamentally changing the way ideas and evidence are shared. COVID-19 has made clear just how much misinformation is posted online and the impact this can have on society. Even before COVID-19, Ofcom reported that the UK information environment was increasingly digital and increasingly fragmented. Attempts at regulating and legislating information have been controversial and sparked public debate, including the draft Online Safety Bill.

The research team at Full Fact have spent years fact checking, developing new technology, conducting research, and building up their reputation among policy makers. The research team will be leveraging these skills to help guide the UK government’s efforts to legislate misinformation, thereby helping to ensure a proportionate and effective legal framework. Full Fact will be working on three research strands to help provide feasible policy guidance to the UK government and assurance to the public:

1. Analyse important claims in public debates, causes of bad information, and the claims that present significant risk of harm. Fact checking results will be published online, shared among the media, and other internet companies. Videos and podcasts will be produced to help share fact checking information with a wide audience.
2. Help key actors design proportionate responses by providing an evidence base around misinformation and its real-world effects. Three annual reports will be provided focusing on the pivotal choices being made in the Online Safety Bill and its implementation, the digital spaces in which good information and misinformation circulates, and the related policies and practices that exist or should exist. The reports will present a summary of the evidence gathered over the previous year and the resulting causes for concern and action. This will help decision makers and the public to understand the risks to informed public debate that Full Fact highlights through its work.
3. Win support for Full Fact’s policy ideas by raising the profile of their analysis, evidence, and research. This will run alongside the progress of the Online Safety Bill, its implementation by Ofcom, and oversight by Parliament. Policy ideas and information will continually be shared with relevant stakeholders, most importantly those in government. Information which is shared with policymakers will also be made available online to make it useful to a wide range of people.