Checking the facts
The goal of this project is to promote accuracy and honesty in public debate.
Peter Cunliffe-Jones is heading up AfricaCheck, checking claims that public figures and institutions make against the best available public information.
The idea is to change the all-too-easy flow of disinformation, promote accuracy in public debate and kick-start a healthy skeptical reflex among the public and the media in Africa, in response to claims made by individuals, organisations and governments.
At the Shuttleworth Foundation we believe that access to information is pivotal to good decision-making and should be a basic right for everyone. The question Peter is helping us explore is: What does making sense of information look like?
What is missing from the media headlines? How do we make the most of the information we, as the public, have access to? How do we distinguish true from false, map relationships that encourage bias, or simply determine that no definitive answer exists yet? This is an essential skill for all to be effective citizens of the open web.
Peter’s work focuses on: