Structure of JFC

The Japan Fact Check Center (JFC) is a non-profit organization specializing in fact-checking.

JFC works to maintain and improve the health of the Internet discourse space, which is the foundation of democracy, by verifying the truth of uncertain information on the Internet based on evidence, and by disseminating and promoting media literacy in the digital age.

Structure of JFC

JFC is established within the Safer Internet Association (SIA). SIA is a non-profit incorporated organization established by internet companies. It works to improve internet safety.

The JFC has a Steering Committee and an Audit Committee, both of which are composed of experts, to ensure fair and impartial fact-checking through decision-making and evaluation of the JFC's activity policies.

Steering Committee

Chair: Masahiro Sogabe (Professor, Kyoto University Graduate School of Law)
Vice Chair: Tatsuhiko Yamamoto (Professor, Keio University Graduate School of Law)
Maiko Ichihara (Professor, Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of Law)
Hajime Ogawa, Visiting Editor, The Mainichi Newspapers
Kazuhiro Taira (Professor, J. F. Oberlin University)
Eijiro Mizutani (Associate Professor, Kansai University)

Audit Committee

Chair: George Shishido(Professor, University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics)
Committee members to be selected

Secretariat

Secretary General: Susumu Yoshida (Executive Director, Safer Internet Association)

Editorial team

Editor-in-Chief: Daisuke Furuta
Daisuke Furuta started his career at The Asahi Shimbun and then moved to BuzzFeed as a founder and editor-in-chief of its Japan edition. In 2019, he left BuzzFeed and set up his own company, “Media-collab," to support Japanese media for digital transformation. He worked for Google News Lab from 2020-2022 as a teaching fellow and then was named the first editor-in-chief of JFC in October 2022. He is a board member of the Digital Journalist Education Institute(D-JEDI).

Deputy Editor: Seiji Miyamoto
Joined NHK in 1981. He produced programs and digital archives for the Great East Japan Earthquake Testimony Project before joining Yahoo! News, where he ensured credibility and worked with newspapers and TV stations on joint reporting and production. As a specially-appointed professor at Rikkyo University's Graduate School of Social Design Studies , he teaches and conducts research on media, digital archives, and visualizing social issues through images.

Editor: Kamome Fujimori
Kamome Fujimori worked for a TV program production company and then she joined Asahi Shimbun in 2001. She worked in the Special Reporting Department, covering investigative reporting, prosecution, police, and public administration, before leaving the Asahi in 2016. After giving birth, she went to the U.S. for her husband's study abroad and returned to Japan in January 2021. She is currently writing news commentary and business and educational articles for Asahi Shimbun's web content, magazines, books, and web media.

Editor: Hidefumi Nogami
Hidefumi Nogami is a reporter and editor; editor-in-chief of JobPicks and managing editor of NewsPicks+d, overseeing business, DX, and learning content; Podcast News Connect MC. He worked for the Asahi Shimbun as a reporter for social affairs and economics and its Jakarta bureau chief. He is a Research Fellow at Harvard University's Center for International Studies (2016-17) and an MBA from MIT's Graduate School of Business (2021-22). He is the author of "Strategic Business Writing," "Reporto: Toru Hashimoto," "Evidence Falsification," and many other books.

Interns

JFC employs student interns to work on the selection of fact-checking targets and actual verification. Many of our students aim to work in the news media, but we also have a variety of students, including aspiring researchers and undergraduate and graduate students interested in the Internet and information environment. If you are interested, please apply here.

Research Team

SIA, the parent organization of JFC, is an organization that has been working to combat Internet abuse and slander, and has staff members who are well versed in the various types of information that proliferate on the Internet. SIA staff members also work as a research team to help JFC conduct fact-checking.

Fact-Checking Guideline

JFC has established fact-checking guidelines to ensure fair fact-checking practices . The editorial staff conducts verification based on these guidelines, and the Steering Committee evaluates the fairness and proper operation of the website.

For an overview and specific methodologies, please refer to the Editorial Board's Fact Checking Guidelines, which are separately available here.

Cooperation between JFC and SIA

JFC operates independently from its parent organization, SIA, and has a steering committee and an audit committee to ensure its independence.

On the other hand, SIA has a track record of activities with the mission "for a better Internet society," which is also connected to JFC's activities. In this regard, we are also promoting the exchange of knowledge and cooperation.

Specifically, SIA's "Net Safety Education Program," which is widely provided to individuals, companies, and local governments, utilizes JFC's knowledge of fact-checking and media literacy, and conversely, SIA's knowledge accumulated over the years has been incorporated into JFC's programs.

While ensuring JFC's independence as a fact-checking organization, SIA will collaborate with JFC in areas where SIA has strengths, such as media literacy education.