The EU referendum was the most fact-checked referendum of all time, yet voters were badly misinformed on key issues. In this post Zander Goss and Alan Renwick consider the effectiveness of fact-checking during the referendum. They conclude that, although fact-checkers were unable to overcome rampant misinformation, fact-checking must be embraced. Some suggestions are offered for how fact-checkers might better cut through to voters in future.
The claim: Despite the referendum on EU membership being the most fact-checked referendum of all time, many voters were badly misinformed.
The verdict: TRUE. It is extremely unlikely any other referendum has ever been as extensively fact-checked as this one. Sadly, misinformation was rampant even as voters went to the polls. No one is certain how to make fact-checking more effective, but there are many ideas which merit further research.
Fact-checking was a prominent feature of the EU referendum. Indeed, this was likely the most fact-checked referendum to date not only in the UK but anywhere in the world. Nevertheless, polling evidence suggests that widespread misperception of the EU and related issues such as immigration and so-called ‘benefit tourism’ remained – a Financial Times commenter even suggested after the vote that the UK had become a ‘post-factual democracy’. This post looks at the extent and nature of fact-checking in the UK and asks whether anything could be done to increase its impact. We are not yet ready to provide answers, but we seek to identify issues that deserve further discussion.
What is fact-checking and who are the fact-checkers?
Fact-checking is a form of journalism often credited as arising from ‘ad watches’ in the early 1990s, which assessed claims in American political advertising. Fact-check teams exercise editorial judgement to select verifiable assertions made by politicians and thoroughly analyse them, thereby informing voters and helping them to hold politicians accountable. The practice has grown dramatically since the founding of pioneers such as FactCheck.org in 2004 and PolitiFact.com in 2007. Duke University Reporters’ Lab’s 2016 fact-checking census found a 50 per cent increase in fact-checking sites worldwide in the year to 15 February 2016, listing 96 active projects in 37 countries.
The Constitution Unit Blog 