Ms Celene Craig:

The greater concern in relation to the accuracy of reports and statements tends to be in regard to the online environment, by and large. There have not been enormous difficulties with the traditional media. Under the provisions of the Digital Services Act which will be coming on stream in 2023 and beyond, the activity of fact checking will take on a much greater role in the context of the online environment and particular aspects of content online. There has been a reliance, in terms of fact checking, primarily on academia and not necessarily on regulators per se. Academia, which is seen to be neutral in this regard, has tended to be where the skills of fact checking have developed and been concentrated. The focus of fact-checking activity is largely on the online environment. Another real concern is around getting access to data in order to fact check, particularly with regard to very current issues like Covid-19, recent European elections and so on. That is where the emphasis in terms of fact checking news content lies at the moment.