Misinformation as a harm: structured approaches for fact-checking prioritization

In this work, we examined how fact-checkers prioritize which claims to inspect for further investigation and publishing, and what tools may assist them in their efforts. Specifically, through a series of interviews with 23 professional fact-checkers from around the world, we validated that harm assessment is a central component of how fact-checkers triage their work. First, we clarify what aspects of misinformation they considered to create urgency or importance. These often revolved around the potential for the claim to harm others. We also clarify the processes behind collective fact-checking decisions and gather suggestions for tools that could help with these processes. In addition, to address the needs articulated by these fact-checkers and others, we present a five-dimension framework of questions to help fact-checkers negotiate the priority of claims. Our FABLE Framework of Misinformation Harms incorporates five dimensions of magnitude -- (social) Fragmentation, Actionability, Believability, Likelihood of spread, and Exploitativeness -- that can help determine the potential urgency of a specific message or post when considering misinformation as harm. This effort was further validated by additional interviews with expert fact-checkers. The result is a questionnaire, a practical and conceptual tool to support fact-checkers and other content moderators as they make strategic decisions to prioritize their efforts.