# Technique T0097.203: Fact Checking Organisation Persona
* **Summary**: An institution with a fact checking organisation persona presents itself as an organisation which produces reports which assess the validity of others’ reporting / statements.
While presenting as a fact checking organisation is not an indication of inauthentic behaviour, an influence operation may have its narratives amplified by fact checking organisations. Threat actors can fabricate fact checking organisations (T0143.002: Fabricated Persona, T0097.202: News Outlet Persona), or they can impersonate existing fact checking outlets (T0143.003: Impersonated Persona, T0097.202: News Outlet Persona).
Legitimate fact checking organisations could use their persona for malicious purposes, or be exploited by threat actors (T0143.001: Authentic Persona, T0097.202: News Outlet Persona).
Associated Techniques and Sub-techniques T0097.102: Journalist Persona: Institutions presenting as fact checking organisations may also present journalists working within the organisation.
T0097.202: News Outlet Persona: Fact checking organisations may present as operating as part of a larger news outlet (e.g. The UK’s BBC News has the fact checking service BBC Verify). When an actor presents as the fact checking arm of a news outlet, they are presenting both a News Outlet Persona and a Fact Checking Organisation Persona.
* **Belongs to tactic stage**: TA16
| Incident | Descriptions given for this incident |
| -------- | -------------------- |
| [I00084 Russia turns its diplomats into disinformation warriors](../../generated_pages/incidents/I00084.md) | “[Russia’s social media] reach isn't the same as Russian state media, but they are trying to recreate what RT and Sputnik had done," said one EU official involved in tracking Russian disinformation. "It's a coordinated effort that goes beyond social media and involves specific websites."
“Central to that wider online playbook is a Telegram channel called Warfakes and an affiliated website. Since the beginning of the conflict, that social media channel has garnered more than 725,000 members and repeatedly shares alleged fact-checks aimed at debunking Ukrainian narratives, using language similar to Western-style fact-checking outlets.”
In this example a Telegram channel (T0043.001: Use Encrypted Chat Apps) was established which presented itself as a source of fact checks (T0097.203: Fact Checking Organisation Persona). |
| Counters | Response types |
| -------- | -------------- |
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