Verify
Everyone has shared something false. The difference is what you do when you find out. These tools take less than a minute to use. The cost of not checking is your credibility and other people\'s trust.
You do not need to be an expert. You need to slow down for 60 seconds before you hit share.
Evidence desk
Bring the claim, link, or media into one place. This worksheet does not decide what is true. It gives you a repeatable trail for finding the original, comparing evidence, and recording what remains unknown.
Your evidence worksheet
Say what the evidence says
Next checks
A worksheet is not a verdict. If the evidence conflicts, say what conflicts, preserve the links, and leave the claim unverified until the gap is resolved.
Practice room
Choose a scenario
Your move
The best verification move is usually smaller than the story. Start with the source, date, or pressure point directly in front of you.
Verification desk
Choose the closest match. You will get a short route, a first move, and a checklist you can use before you share, buy, vote, or act.
Your check
A pause is a successful result. You do not need certainty to delay sharing.
Evidence quality
Strongest
The full speech, filing, dataset, recording, study, or direct statement. Start here when it exists.
Useful
Look for outlets that name their sources, show their work, and do not all cite the same originating post.
Lead only
These can point you toward a claim, but neither proves it. Use them to find the record, not replace it.
Is the photo or video from the event it claims to show, or from a different event years ago? Reverse image search will tell you.
Who posted it first? Is the account verified? Does it have a history of reliable posting, or does it regularly post sensational content for engagement?
Look for watermarks (Sora, OpenAI, Google), blurred boundaries between similar-colored objects, missing ears or fingers, and lack of shockwaves in explosion videos.
Search Snopes, Reuters, AP, Lead Stories, or Africa Check. If a claim is viral, a fact-checker has probably already looked at it.
If the post makes you angry, scared, or righteous, that is the design. Strong emotion is the signal to slow down, not speed up. The most viral content is the most emotionally optimized content, not the most accurate.
If you are not sure, do not share. The cost of waiting 10 minutes is zero. The cost of spreading misinformation is your credibility and other people's trust in you.
Upload or paste an image URL to find where it appeared before. If a "breaking" photo has been online for years, it is recycled.
HOW: Right-click any image → "Search image with Google." Or upload directly at images.google.com.
Open Google Reverse Image Search ↗Reverse image search that finds the earliest known appearance of an image. Useful for detecting recycled or AI-generated images.
HOW: Upload an image or paste a URL. TinEye shows the first date it appeared online.
Open TinEye ↗Browser extension for video verification. Extracts keyframes, checks metadata, and helps identify recycled or manipulated video.
HOW: Install the Chrome/Firefox extension. Right-click any video to analyze keyframes and metadata.
Open InVID Verification Plugin ↗One of the oldest fact-checking sites. Good for viral claims, political statements, and urban legends.
HOW: Search the claim or paste the URL of the post you want to check.
Open Snopes ↗Reuters' dedicated fact-checking team. Strong on international claims, war footage, and AI-generated content.
HOW: Search or browse recent fact-checks. Reuters is particularly good at identifying AI-generated war footage.
Open Reuters Fact Check ↗Associated Press fact-checking. Covers political claims, viral posts, and international misinformation.
HOW: Search or browse. AP is particularly strong on political claims and historical accuracy.
Open AP Fact Check ↗UK-based independent fact-checking organization. Good for British politics, health claims, and migration statistics.
HOW: Search the claim. Full Fact is transparent about sources and methodology.
Open Full Fact (UK) ↗Africa's largest independent fact-checking organization. Covers health, politics, and religious claims across the continent.
HOW: Search or browse by country. Essential for claims about African politics, pastors, and health.
Open Africa Check ↗US-based fact-checker. Particularly good at identifying AI-generated content and deepfakes.
HOW: Search the claim. Lead Stories often uses AI detection tools like Hive Moderation to verify images and video.
Open Lead Stories ↗US political fact-checker with a "Truth-O-Meter" rating system. Covers statements by politicians and political influencers.
HOW: Search the politician or claim. PolitiFact rates claims from True to Pants on Fire.
Open PolitiFact ↗Images: Look for blurred boundaries between similar-colored objects, unnatural pixel bleeding, extra or missing fingers, inconsistent lighting, and watermarks in corners. OpenAI images may carry a SynthID watermark detectable by Google\'s SynthID tool.
Video: Look for missing shockwaves in explosions, unnatural movements, poor lip-syncing, repetitive sequences, and audio that does not match the visual context. Check for "Made with AI" labels on platforms that support them.
Audio: AI voice cloning can replicate public figures\' voices from seconds of sample audio. If an audio clip of a politician sounds too perfect, too convenient, or too incriminating, treat it as suspect until verified.
Text: AI chatbots (Grok, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) can produce confident, well-sourced-sounding answers that are completely wrong. Do not use an AI chatbot as your primary fact-checker. Use human fact-checkers instead.
1. Correct it. Post a correction with the fact-check link. Do not delete the original post silently, people who saw it deserve to know it was wrong.
2. Delete it if needed. If the post is harmful and a correction will not reach the same audience, delete it. But try to correct first.
3. Learn from it. Ask yourself which of the 6 steps you skipped. Next time, do that step first.
4. Do not beat yourself up. Everyone shares misinformation. The platforms are designed to make it easy. The correction is what matters.
Repair without theater
I shared this before checking it. I have now found better information here: [link]. The earlier post was [wrong / missing context / unverified]. I am correcting it rather than leaving the mistake in place.