Tools for mis/disinfo research
- Iffy Index of Unreliable Sources lists sites that regularly fail fact-checks.
- Disinfo Dashboard is a collection of misinformation monitors.
- Fact-check Search returns search results from dozens of fact-checking sites.
- Pink Slime: Fake-local News maintains a map, table, and timeline.
- Wayback Workshop gets URLs from the web-archive (for linking to unreliable sites).
- Our Fact-check Feed sister site is a searchable database of 54K fact-checks, 2016–now.
Latest reliability reports
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_cow_pock.jpg https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Cow_Pock_or_the_Wonderful_Effects_of_the_New_Inoculation_Wellcome_M0005398.jpg</p>
<p>The Cow-Pock—or—the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation!—vide. the Publications of ye Anti-Vaccine Society<br />
Print (color engraving) published June 12, 1802 by H. Humphrey, St. James’s Street.</p>
<p>James Gillray’s 1802 caricature of Jenner vaccinating patients who feared it would make them sprout cowlike appendages<br />
(painting: James Gillray, credit: Wellcome Library, London http://wellcomeimages.org)</p>
<p>In this cartoon, the British satirist James Gillray caricatured a scene at the Smallpox and Inoculation Hospital at St. Pancras, showing cowpox vaccine being administered to frightened young women, and cows emerging from different parts of people’s bodies. The cartoon was inspired by the controversy over inoculating against the dreaded disease, smallpox. Opponents of vaccination had depicted cases of vaccinees developing bovine features and this is picked up and exaggerated by Gillray. Although the central figure is often assumed to be Edward Jenner circumstantial evidence suggests this may not be so. Although the director of the Smallpox Hospital William Woodville had originally supported Jenner, he and his colleague George Pearson, were in dispute with Jenner by the time the caricature was published. It is unlikely they would have met Jenner and it has been suggested that the central figure represents Pearson. Gillray often included clues to identify individuals who were not easily recognizable, but the only clue here is the badge on the arm of the boy which identifies his connection with Woodville’s hospital. The boy holds a container labeled “VACCINE POCK hot from ye COW” and papers in the boy’s pocket are labeled “Benefits of the Vaccine”. The tub on the desk is labeled “OPENING MIXTURE”. A bottle next to the tub is labeled “VOMIT”. The painting on the wall depicts worshippers of the Golden Calf.</p>
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Consider the Source
Anatomy of an anti-vax fact-check: Consider the Source, Check the Site, Confirm the Content. Who made the claim, who published it, where’s the evidence?
MSM and fake news
Mainstream media spreads fake news
Mainstream media contributes significantly to the infectious spread of conspiracy fantasies. But it could also hold the cure.
(Assume) Everything on Social Media Is Wrong
Social media’s malgorithms spread lies and hate. The platforms are unwilling and probably unable to change.
The United States of Conspiracy
Americans will believe almost anything. Two decades of polling prove that. No matter how insane the claim, at least 10% and up to 40% of people will say it’s true.
Mainstream media funds fake news
When debunkers link to fake-news stories, they do more harm than good. There’s a right way and wrong way to cite unreliable sources. Most publishers use the latter.
Pandemic and party
Vax vs. Vote
A side-by-side, state-by-state comparison showing vaccination rates closely correlated with Biden-vote percentages.
Congress’ COVID-Positive Party
When debunkers link to fake-news stories, they do more harm than good. There’s a right way and wrong way to cite unreliable sources. Most publishers use the latter.
PolitiFact-check scores
![William Jennings Bryan campaign poster, "Shall the People Rule?" (circa 1900)](data:image/svg+xml,<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="150" height="150"><rect fill-opacity="0"/></svg>)
PolitiFact: Voters Face Facts
Using PolitiFact-checks, we can compare the credibility of candidates and determine, from past elections, if voters tend to pick the more truthful candidate.
PolitiFact: All the Presidents’ Peeps
Part two of the series that turns PolitiFact-checks into credibility scores, calculates the truth ratings of people in the past three presidential administrations.
PolitiFact: Pols, Pundits, and Pant Fires
This last of a three-parter compares the PolitiFact credibility of groups making political claims. The most truthful: comedians. The least: social media.dential administrations.
Your State’s Been Pink-Slimed
Tracking cross-country plink-slime sites that masquerade as local news, with an interactive USA map and a Slime by State table.
Bias vs. B.S.
Bias doesn’t get a publisher into Iffy.news, only bullshit does. Iffy is blind to bias. However, when bias becomes B.S., data can help determine which direction bias most often turns.
Adtech is bad tech
Who Funds Fake News?
Fake news is a for-profit business, funded mostly by advertising, with revenue flowing from the biggest brands and adtech agencies into the coffers of clickbait, hate, and mis/disinfo sites.
Brands Behaving Badly
Millions in ad dollars are helping spread COVID conspiracies, mostly without the advertiser’s knowledge.
Iffy Index of Unreliable Sources
Misinformation thrives online, propped up by advertising dollars, political donations, and social media shares.
In scores of studies, researchers have tried to figure out how falsehoods spread. Their research often relies on lists of fake-news sources. However, those lists are out-of-date and full of 404s.
Better data means better results, for researchers, reporters, and readers. So I’ve built a better dataset:
The Iffy Index of Unreliable Sources is a resource for researchers needing a database of untrustworthy online sources, based on factual-reporting ratings by Media Bias/Fact Check, the professional news/info website reviewer.
Most-visited unreliable sources
The full Iffy Index has data on 1,300+ sites that regularly publish unreliable information, including clickbait, fake news, and unproven allegations. The table below lists the Iffy sites with the most web traffic (by Alexa Global Rank).
| Domain | MBFC Fact | Site Rank | Name | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | weibo.com | mixed | 28 | |
| 2 | sohu.com | mixed | 46 | sohu.com |
| 3 | english.cctv.com | mixed | 133 | CCTV International |
| 4 | dailymail.co.uk | low | 204 | Daily Mail |
| 5 | economictimes.indiatimes.com | mixed | 234 | The Economic Times |
| 6 | foxnews.com | mixed | 255 | Fox News |
| 7 | 4chan.org | very-low | 404 | 4Chan |
| 8 | ria.ru | low | 425 | RIA Novosti |
| 9 | de.rt.com | very-low | 439 | RT DE |
| 10 | rt.com | very-low | 439 | RT News |
| 11 | rumble.com | low | 496 | Rumble |
| 12 | jw.org | low | 1,047 | Jehovah's Witnesses |
| 13 | youm7.com | mixed | 1,073 | Al Youm Al Sabea |
| 14 | farsnews.ir | mixed | 1,075 | Fars News Agency |
| 15 | news18.com | mixed | 1,149 | News18 |
| 16 | bitchute.com | very-low | 1,354 | BitChute |
| 17 | zerohedge.com | low | 1,457 | Zerohedge |
| 18 | news.cn | mixed | 1,671 | Xinhua |
| 19 | breitbart.com | mixed | 1,752 | Breitbart |
| 20 | en.mehrnews.com | mixed | 1,765 | Mehr News Agency |
| 21 | tasnimnews.com | mixed | 1,791 | Tasnim News Agency |
| 22 | chinadaily.com.cn | mixed | 1,931 | China Daily |
| 23 | protothema.gr | mixed | 2,023 | Proto Thema |
| 24 | worldstarhiphop.com | mixed | 2,136 | WorldStarHipHop |
| 25 | thegatewaypundit.com | very-low | 2,182 | The Gateway Pundit |
| 26 | english.alarabiya.net | mixed | 2,233 | Al Arabiya |
| 27 | xinhuanet.com | mixed | 2,355 | Xinhua News Agency |
| 28 | theepochtimes.com | mixed | 2,571 | The Epoch Times |
| 29 | gettr.com | low | 2,993 | GETTR |
| 30 | dagospia.com | low | 3,535 | Dagospia |
The Iffy.news Index has details on each domain and the methodology used to interpret the data. To assess the credibility of a particular site or story, try the Fact-check Search tool.
