Media Matters for Democracy (MMfD) on Friday launched a collaborative fact-checking tool, ‘Facter’, designed to counter misinformation and support newsrooms in delivering accurate information.

       “Facter leverages technology to aggregate verified content from various news sources and its own monitoring and fact-checking team,” the media development organisation said in a press release.

       “To foster sustainable collaborations, Facter functions as both a tool and a platform, streamlining fact-checking processes for newsrooms efficiently,” it stated.

       According to MMfD, the tool “exclusively” provides content to newsrooms and was already being adopted by 10 mainstream newsrooms in Pakistan.

       Speaking at the launch of the tool, MMfD director and founder Asad Baig said: “At a technical level, Facter operates by curating information processed by MMfD’s monitoring team and credible media outlets.”

       “Trends Monitor, MMfD’s technical toolkit and methodology developed for digital investigations, is employed to monitor social media platforms for mis/disinformation (fact-checked by MMfD), misleading information (fact-checked by MMfD), or verified information,” Baig said.

       He added that Facter aligned with MMfD’s long-term goal of enabling newsrooms to enhance web traffic and digital revenue through the publication of verified, credible information.

       Additionally, Facter connects newsrooms to an extensive stream of information related to their investigations by aggregating relevant content published by various local fact-checking and media organisations, the press release added.