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Free guides to checking what you see online

Anyone can verify. Here's how.

Step by step guides to checking images, claims and accounts, free for everyone.

Run the share gate Play spot the signs
  • 210 guides
  • 8 desks
  • 0 sign ups needed
A magnifying glass resting on handwritten notes on a wooden desk
Move across the photo. Under the loupe, the detail comes back. That is the whole habit: look closer before you pass it on.

Glossary

MisinformationDisinformationDeepfakeLateral ReadingConfirmation BiasMalinformationMetadataAstroturfingPhishingFact-CheckSockpuppetClickbaitPrimary SourceEcho ChamberFilter BubbleProvenanceCorroborationAttributionVerificationMedia LiteracyDigital FootprintCheapfakeContext CollapseSource TriangulationBotDebunking

Signature tool 01

The share gate

Six questions stand between a post and your share button. Work through them on anything you are about to pass on. The button unlocks when you have checked all six.

Two hands holding a smartphone while scrolling through a feed
Scanning: the colour returns as you read on.
  1. Guide: an account vetting routine
  2. Guide: primary versus secondary sources
  3. Guide: reverse image search, the basics
  4. Guide: what makes a source corroborated
  5. Guide: urgency as a warning sign
  6. Guide: practising the pause

Hold on. Nothing checked yet.

Signature tool 02

Spot the signs

This post has seven warning signs hidden in it. Tap or click anything that looks off. Each one you find opens the guide that explains it.

Practice post. Made up for this game. Not a real account, photo or event.

Daily Truth News

Huge crowd at the river this morning and nobody is reporting it.

ST0CK

Proof here:

0 of 7 signs found

  1. A lookalike handle

    The l in daily is the digit 1. Lookalike handles borrow trust from names you already know.

    Guide: recognising impersonation accounts

  2. A brand new account

    A week old account proves nothing on its own, but it is a reason to look harder at who runs it.

    Guide: what account age can and cannot tell you

  3. A date with nothing behind it

    "Taken today" is a claim, not a timestamp. Old photos are often sent round again as new.

    Guide: when an old claim resurfaces as new

  4. Pressure to share

    Capitals, exclamation marks and "they will delete this" are there to stop you checking.

    Guide: urgency and pressure as a signal

  5. Shadows that disagree

    The sun is on the left, yet the right hand tree casts its shadow back towards it. Light that disagrees with itself can mean a composite.

    Guide: checking shadows and weather

  6. A rubbed out watermark

    Something has been smudged out of the corner. A removed watermark often hides where a photo really came from.

    Guide: spotting a removed watermark

  7. A disguised link

    A shortened link hides where it goes, and "fr33" swaps letters for numbers. Check the destination before you tap.

    Guide: recognising a phishing link

The library

Eight desks, 210 guides

Search the library
01Image verificationPhotos, screenshots and video: where they came from and what was changed.27 guides02Claim checkingQuotes, numbers and headlines, traced back to what was actually said.27 guides03Account checkingHandles, badges, join dates and the patterns behind a profile.26 guides04Source literacyWho is speaking, who paid for it, and what kind of page you are on.26 guides05Scam patternsThe pressure tricks and payment asks that repeat across scams.26 guides06Practice exercisesShort drills you can run on your own feed this week.26 guides07Classroom kitsLesson shapes, discussion guides and routines for teachers.26 guides08GlossaryPlain definitions for the words verification people use.26 guides

Look again

Three things pictures do quietly

Images change as they travel. Here are three of the changes, shown on real photographs, with the guide that explains each one.

Pedestrians crossing a busy city street in daylight

01 Resaving

Every re-save costs detail

Drag across. The right side is the same photo, saved twenty times at low quality by this site's own build. Blocky edges and smeared colour are a sign an image has travelled a long way from its source.

Guide: what repeated resaving does to an image
A wide view of a park lawn with people relaxing in small groups

02 Cropping

A crop decides the story

A tight crop can make a busy place look empty, or a calm moment look tense. Open the frame and see how much context a single crop can remove.

Guide: how cropping changes a photo's meaning
Close view of hands typing on a laptop keyboard

03 Video

Video is a stack of photos

To check a clip, pause it on a few distinct frames and search those stills. Mark frames on this clip to see how a keyframe check builds up.

Guide: reverse searching a video by key frames

Start here

Six guides worth reading first

All guides
Image verificationReverse Image Search, The BasicsA reverse image search flips the usual question. Instead of typing words to find a picture, you feed in a picture and...Source literacyWhat Makes A Source CorroboratedCorroboration means an independent source confirms a claim without simply repeating the first report word for word from...Scam patternsRecognising A Phishing LinkPhishing links rely on close resemblance rather than exact matching, using a domain name that looks right at a casual...Practice exercisesPractising The Pause Before SharingThe single most protective verification habit may well be the simplest one available: pausing before sharing anything...Classroom kitsBuilding A Class Verification Checklist TogetherA checklist built collaboratively tends to stick better than one simply handed out ready made, since the process of...GlossaryGlossary: Lateral ReadingLateral reading describes the practice of leaving a website to check what other sources say about it, rather than...
Students working together on tablets at a classroom table

For classrooms

Teach the pause, not the panic

Lesson shapes, discussion guides and short drills that build confident checking without tipping into cynicism. Free to use, no sign up.

Pause. Check. Then share.

Most of verification is one small habit, repeated. The library is here for the rest.

Open the library