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A thread about why verification matters, and why we constantly need to think about the processes and ethical boundaries. 
First Draft started 5 years ago to work on standards within the news industry around verification and to train the critical skills needed to be a journalist. Back then, one of the biggest concerns was copyright protection.
https://firstdraftnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1stdraft_copyright.pdf
https://firstdraftnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1stdraft_copyright.pdf
But over the past few years, our biggest focus has been the ways in which social media and the news industry is being targeted and manipulated by different types of actors. https://datasociety.net/research/media-manipulation/
At the core of this work is verification. There are five steps to our verification process that mirrors traditional journalism: investigate the provenance, source (who), date (when), location, motivation (why) of a post, piece of content or claim. https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/verifying-online-information-the-absolute-essentials
We train journalists to do these steps and encourage them to share their work with their audiences to increase transparency, which builds trust. When the public disputes a finding, and the steps are explained, they can do the verification for themselves. https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/course-training-us-election-misinformation
There is still more work to do when it comes to establishing standards around how newsrooms will approach digital investigations within closed groups, messaging apps and digital footprinting and we’ve started some of that work in this guide. https://firstdraftnews.org/latest/closed-groups-messaging-apps-and-online-ads-the-new-battlegrounds-of-disinformation
Online accounts that have settings wide open for anyone to see are also open to online investigators. The public should know where within each platform they can better protect their personal information (there are 3 places in Facebook, only 1 is obvious).
https://www.facebook.com/help/443357099140264
https://www.facebook.com/help/443357099140264
Around the election, it’s critical that journalists use the correct terminology around “hacking” and know how public records work. Some public records are for sale, others are free. All are tools available for journalists to report more thoroughly. https://twitter.com/JessicaHuseman/status/1319066220713398273
Verification is a young field and is working out techniques, boundaries and unintended consequences. But these skills are critical. All actors can use the same techniques, but for those who are using them to fight disinfo, ethical codes are critical. https://datajournalism.com/read/handbook/verification-3
