Online disinformation and fact-checking in social polarization contexts: The fact-checking journalism of Colombiacheck, La Silla Vacía and AFP during the 21N national strike in Colombia

Abstract

This article analyses the fact-checking journalism of Colombiacheck, La Silla Vacía, and AFP Colombia in a polarized environment such as the national strike the November 21st, 2019. We found, using content analysis (n = 90), that the verified disinformation adopted a visual format (images and videos) establishing a statistically significant relationship between the format of the contents and the use of verification tools. Secondly, we observed that there is no association between the evaluation of the verification with the use of these tools or between the propagation channel with the type of disinformation. Thirdly, differences among the media outlets were observed in the use of scales and verification categories, and in the length of the fact-checks. Finally, we assessed the common fact-checks to measure the degree of agreement. Results show critical reliability values when comparing Colombiacheck and La Silla Vacía with AFP.