Digital verification is the disciplined process of establishing whether a piece of online content is authentic and accurately described. It underpins almost every election investigation.
The core questions
Verification comes down to answering four questions about a piece of media:
- Provenance — is this the original, or a copy/edit?
- Source — who captured and first published it?
- Date — when was it captured (not just posted)?
- Location — where was it captured?
Provenance and source
Trace the earliest appearance of the content using reverse image search and web archives. Miscaptioned media is far more common than fabricated media — an old, real photo reshared out of context.
Date and location
Use visible clues, metadata (when available), and cross-referencing to establish when and where. Geolocation matches visible features to maps; chronolocation narrows down the time using shadows, weather, and events.
Preserve everything
Archive sources immediately with tools like the Wayback Machine — content can be deleted or edited. Keep an evidence log with URLs, timestamps, and screenshots.
Common mistakes
- Trusting a single signal (e.g. metadata) as proof
- Skipping preservation and losing the source
- Confirmation bias — seeing what you expect
Next steps
Practice with the reverse image search workflow and the guides on verifying images and videos.