Is it fact checkable?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nWe can\u2019t check the future, so a claim that cross-border trade will rise by 100% over the next two years is speculative and out of our reach. However, stating that cross-border trade rose by 100% in the last two years would be verifiable. We also can\u2019t fact check peoples\u2019 feelings or emotions about specific issues.<\/p>\n
While the accuracy or inaccuracy of many claims can be analysed, sometimes the evidence is not there to validate or refute what has been said and we will conclude that a claim is unsubstantiated.<\/p>\n
Sometimes we will investigate a topic that is in the news, to provide additional context to eliminate confusion rather than responding to an individual, explicit claim. These explainer articles are an effort to walk readers through more complex claims and topics that are educational and informative, but cannot be so easily reduced to the simple indication of accuracy or inaccuracy in our verdict system.<\/p>\n