From a forwarded message to a sourced verdict.

The journey of a claim

1. You paste the claimCopy it exactly as you saw it: a message, a headline, a quote or a figure. If one message holds several separate claims, they are split apart and checked one by one.
2. We look for the evidenceSeveral searches run at once: the open web, recent news, social media, official sources, published fact-checks from Nigeria's fact-checking organisations, and the PIJAlance archive. When a result is only a topic page or a short fragment, the full article behind it is opened so nothing is judged from a scrap.
3. Every source is weighedEach source is matched against PIJAlance's rating of news outlets and official bodies. Trusted reporting counts for more; unknown sites can only back up a trusted source, never stand alone; a newsroom's Facebook or X page counts as the same source as its website, not an extra one.
4. The evidence is checked for relevanceStories that merely look similar are set aside. A case from another state, another country or another year is not evidence about this one, and the system checks place and date in code, not just by judgement.
5. A verdict is drafted, with reasonsAn AI model reads only the evidence gathered and writes a verdict, its reasoning and the sources behind each step. Any factual statement without a source is rejected automatically.
6. A second, independent checkA different AI model, from a different company, reviews the same evidence without being told the first verdict. If the two disagree, or a cited source doesn't say what it was claimed to say, the claim goes to a human editor.
7. You get the answerYou see the verdict, a short explanation, links to every source, a note on whether AI or an editor approved it, and a fact-check card you can download and share.

When an editor steps in

Some claims should never be settled by a machine alone. These go to a PIJAlance editor before a final verdict is published:

• Claims about a death, sexual assault or an election, unless an official source responsible for the matter has already confirmed it.
• Cases where an official source and credible reporting disagree, or where official sources disagree with each other. You will see both sides while the editor decides.
• Claims that would confirm something about a named living person as true.
• Any case where the two AI checks disagree, or where the automatic checks could not complete.

While a claim is with an editor, you see "not yet confirmed" along with the sources found so far. You are notified when the editor publishes the final answer.

What we never do

• We never present a guess as a finding. No evidence means no verdict.
• We never hide our sources. Every answer links to them, whatever the verdict.
• We never pretend AI is a human editor. Every answer says which it was.
• We never let a failed check reach you as an answer. If something goes wrong, the claim is held for an editor.