Internet Archive will add fact check notifications to Wayback Machine

The Internet Archive will provide web pages in its Wayback Machine archive with fact-checking notifications. If information on the site has been the subject of a fact check, users can go to that fact check for veracity information.

The Internet Archive provides an example of an archived CNN page about plans with the US Republican Party health care system, which had been fact-checked by Politifact. A yellow banner will appear in the Wayback Machine with a link to the fact check.

“We try to preserve our digital history, but also see the difficulties of providing access to false and misleading information from various sources. By providing useful links to contextual information, we hope that users better understand what they read in the Wayback Machine “reports the Internet Archive.

Another example provided by the internet archive concerns a message on IndyMedia that, according to research by Graphika, was part of a disinformation campaign. The Wayback Machine provides a link to that research. The Wayback Machine also archives pages that are later taken offline due to, for example, incorrect information, such as a message on Medium that violated the terms and conditions of that site. At Internet Archive that page can still be seen, but a notification reports that the article has violated Medium’s terms and conditions.

The Wayback Machine uses FactCheck.org, Check Your Fact, Lead Stories, Politifact, Washington Post Fact-Checker, AP News Fact Check, USA Today Fact Check, Graphika, Stanford Internet Observatory, and Our.news fact checks.