Contextualizing Institutional Roots, Normative Perceptions, and Practices of Fact-Checking: Evidence from Hong Kong's Fact-Checking Initiatives

As the global fact-checking movement shows a clear diffusion of professionalism, Hong Kong society witnessed the rapid development of fact-checking initiatives. An interesting and critical question remains to be answered: To what extent do the fact-checking initiatives in the context of Hong Kong differ from their counterparts in the Western context? To answer this question, this chapter selects three different types of fact-checking organizations in Hong Kong and takes them as a base of empirical observation to understand the practices and normative perceptions of fact-checkers as well as how the institutional features of fact-checking organizations shape fact-checkers’ practices and normative perceptions in Hong Kong. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fact-checkers and senior editors from three fact-checking organizations, and content analyses of organizations’ released fact-checking reports were conducted. Results showed that three distinct roles emerged: fact-checking journalists, education-oriented fact-checkers, and independent fact-checkers. More importantly, the internal and external features of fact-checking organizations can jointly exert impacts on various aspects of fact-checkers’ normative perceptions and practices. This chapter sheds light on the literature on the global fact-checking movement by examining Hong Kong fact-checking initiatives in a non-Western context.