3. ACTIONS TAKEN TO COUNTER INFORMATION DISORDER 3.1 FACT CHECKING A range of organizations are working on different strategies and action plans to counter information disorder, as it is perceived to soil the marketplace of ideas (Young, Jamieson, et al. 2018). Fact checking is considered to be one of the most popular strategies in countering mis-, dis-, and malinformation (Walter et al. 2019). Fact checking can be defined as the “the practice of systematically publishing assessments of the validity of claims made by public officials and institutions with an explicit attempt to identify whether a claim is factual” (Walter et al. 2019, 351). According to H. R. Venkatesh from BOOM India, “fact checking is about two things. One is to tell people who are swallowing lies that are not true, and the second is about correcting the record” (interview, 2021). Fact checking has become an accepted practice in mainstream journalism, often leading to higherquality media coverage (Schumacher-Matos 2012). However, even with the growing popularity of fact checking, its effectiveness in countering information disorder is doubtful, as empirical evidence on the matter is highly divided (Graves et al. 2021). Fact checking often starts with small-scale projects focused on a specific event, such as key elections, which then develop into established organizations (Bell 2019). The fact-checking landscape differs across countries in the Asian region. In some countries, fact checking is well funded and media organizations, independent fact checkers, and civil society all actively participate. But in other countries, the industry is still in the development stages (Meel and Vishwakarma 2020). In Singapore, for example, “there’s a lot of intention and desire to do fact checking, but it’s not actually happening, because there’s just no manpower. I think, occasionally, you’ll find some ad hoc thing. But there’s no sustained civil society effort to do it, because there’s just not enough resources to I N FO R M ATI O N D I SO R D ER IN THE GLOBA L SOUTH do it in a systematic, sustained manner,” according to Kirsten Han, a freelance journalist (interview, 2021). According to Professor Jun Sakamoto of Hosei University, Japan, the lack of a developed factchecking industry in Japan is a result of information disorder not being given importance: “The only fact-checking organization in Japan is the FIJ [Fact Check Initiative Japan]. One reason is that there is not much interest in the problem of disinformation in Japan” (interview, 2021). On the other hand, as Rema Rajeshwari, an officer in the Indian police service, explained, India has a thriving fact-checking industry: “There are a lot of independent agencies which work as fact checkers, and some of the mainstream media also came up with their own fact-checking wings. And a lot of government agencies and institutions don’t call themselves fact-checking teams, but at least they have the system of sharing credible information on a real-time basis” (interview, 2021). TYPES OF FACT-CHECKING ORGANIZATIONS The fact-checking landscape is diverse across countries in Asia. Two common forms of organizations engaged in fact checking are independent third-party fact checkers and the fact-checking arms of media organizations (Amazeen 2017). INDEPENDENT THIRD-PARTY FACT CHECKERS Independent third-party fact checkers are the core group within the fact-checking community. Some of these organizations are formally structured, whereas others simply consist of a group of journalists, academics, and civil society activists working together. Civil society organizations that consider fact checking to be part of their activities, especially during events that tend to trigger larger amounts of mis- and disinformation, also belong to this category. As noted by Mong Palatino, regional editor for South East Asia, Global Voices, and former member of the Philippines House of Representatives, in the Philippines “there are many civil society groups which are providing fact checking, especially relating to elections and then the public health crisis [Covid-19]” (interview, 2021). FACT-CHECKING ARMS OF MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS In countries with an evolved fact-checking landscape, most of the reputed mainstream media organizations have their own fact-checking arms Asia – 2 01