With a report on the Syrian issue, "Verify-Sy" wins Global Fact 9 Award

Translated by: Nada alsagheer

Verify-sy platform has won the "Global Fact 9" award for an investigation entitled (an investigation reveals the involvement of Sham Wings in the migrant crisis from Damascus to Belarus) for "the most influential investigation" category after winning the first place.

The investigation won in a competition that is organized annually by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) on the sideline of its annual conference which is currently held in Oslo, with the participation of about 500 people from around the world.

The competition focuses on the report that is most influential in the department it discusses. Verify-sy participated in the competition with a report that was published in November 2021. It reveals the involvement of Sham Wings airlines in the migrant crisis from Damascus to Belarus.

The report has been chosen from 150 investigations, in "The most influential investigation" category, that were presented by many platforms and institutions specialized in checking misleading news and information from different countries around the world. In addition to other investigations for "The most creative form" and "The most creative cooperation" categories.

The report talks about the role of Sham Wings in transporting Syrians through  direct flights from Damascus to Minsk via airline offices that work in coordination with the company that has been enlisted on the US sanctions since December 2016 due to providing financial, technological and service support for the Syrian regime and Syrian Arab Airlines.

Supportive testimonies have been reviewed in the report for people who traveled from Damascus to Minsk in tourist visas in order to reach Europe later, and for tourist offices that organize direct flights to that region using open source tools.

The IFCN is one of Poynter Institute units that is responsible for assembling fact checking bodies worldwide. It plays a vital role in assembling fact checking bodies and defending their rights.

The network is accredited by most social media sites in the fact checking process,as  Facebook partners with independent third-party fact checkers accredited by IFCN to identify, review and evaluate the possible misleading information on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.

In February 2022, Verify-sy platform obtained the accreditation of the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) after three years of hard work to develop its methodology, working mechanism and its organizational and administrative structure to comply with the strict principles set by the Network as a main condition for accepting the membership request of the institutions working in the field of fact checking.