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What is “Fact Checking?”

Some of my favorite Facebook posters, such as PragerU and Hillsdale College, and I have been victims of Facebook Fact Checkers on occasion. (I feel as though I’m in good company though many will dismiss me as a crackpot for such an admission.)

A joke popular on social media inspired me to figure out “Fact Checking” for myself.

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What does the word ‘Service' mean when used with these agencies: Social ‘Service,’ Internal Revenue 'Service,' U.S. Postal 'Service,' Civil 'Service,' etc.
Today, I overheard two farmers talking and one of them said he had hired a bull to 'service 'a few cows, and it all came into focus. I now understand what all those agencies are doing to us.

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I had always thought that “Fact Checking” meant comparing published facts with known facts. Objective facts.

To understand “Fact Checking” as used by Fact Checkers, I had to delve into their world, one word at a time.

“Facts” to Fact Checkers are what most of us call “Opinions.” It’s easy to distinguish between them. Facts are objective. They can be observed and measured. Opinions are subjective. Different observers are likely to interpret them differently depending on their point of view.

Fact Checkers seem to have mastered the art of quantifying and qualifying opinions. They simply hold them up in comparison to approved opinions. Those that pass adhere to the standard established by our intellectual betters are used to bludgeon the ignorant masses. Those that fail are hidden behind a smokescreen generated by computer algorithms or simply cancelled. In the most egregious cases, those who propound them are barred from access to social media.

“Checking” is even more curious in its usage. One might be tempted to think it describes the process of comparing one fact to a standard. Surprisingly, it doesn’t. Watching Fact Checkers reacting to substandard opinions puts me in mind of an ice hockey game, especially when a player breaks away from the pack and appears headed to scoring a goal. Unable to outskate their opponents, the Fact Checkers chose instead to bully them into submission.