In 2005, India legislated one of the best ‘Right to Information’ laws in the world which changed the public information landscape and accessibility in the country. It was the first step towards transparency and accountability of governance. In 2012, India came up with the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), popularly known as the ‘Open Data policy’ of the Government of India. In Spite of these systems in place, data and information remain in complex and overwhelming formats in the country. Some of the data that is meant for the public does not even exist in the public domain. Factly was born to create supporting platforms and infrastructure to bridge this gap and strengthen democracy through engagement.
Factly strives to cultivate civic participation and engaging citizens in accessing, understanding, and using important government data/information at various levels
Factly will strive to transform the public information landscape in India by improving access & understanding of the common public about important government data/information and evolve into a reliable and significant resource in the context of public information & governance
- Data Journalism/Fact Check: Factly’s written and visual stories layout facts with evidence and help separate the wheat from the chaff in times of hyper-connectivity and constant information bombardment. The content aims to simplify public data & information that might otherwise be in complex forms. The fact-checks debunk viral misinformation and lay bare facts on the claims made by influencers.
- Data/Information Products/Tools: Creating and developing tools that will increase access to public data and information by making it easy, interactive and intuitive. Counting India is Factly’s first tool in its beta version that focuses on accessibility and data visualization of Census-2011 data. Factly has also launched Dataful and Tagore AI recently. For more details of our products, click here.
- Advocating Open Data: Factly believes that for better public engagement with government data, the supply side also has to be strengthened. Factly actively advocates ‘Open Data’ policy to governments and agencies that house large amounts of public information. Factly collaborates and provides services to governments and institutions to release data to the public domain. Besides these, Factly engages with various stakeholders from across the ‘Open Data’ spectrum to build successful case studies & use cases. Factly also conducts training sessions on accessing, understanding & analysing public data to journalists, public policy enthusiasts, NGOs etc.
Factly Media & Research is a for-profit firm registered in 2016 and is also registered with the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME). We generate revenue from partnerships with social media platforms, research & consulting services in the area of open data, training & capacity building in the areas of ‘Data Journalism’ & ‘Fact-Checking’. The Fact-check unit is a part of the larger organization.
The following organisations contributed more than 5 percent of Factly’s revenues in each the Financial Years 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23
• Meta (formerly Facebook)
• Google
The following organisations contributed more than 5 percent of Factly’s revenues in each the Financial Years 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23
• Meta (formerly Facebook)
Registration Certificate
Factly is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network’s (IFCN) Code of Principles. Here is a link to our certification & other details. (https://ifcncodeofprinciples.poynter.org/profile/factly-media-research)
