Purpose
Sources allow readers to evaluate the foundation of journalism. Online Safety identifies and attributes material evidence wherever doing so is compatible with accuracy, safety, confidentiality, law, and the public interest. Citation is not decoration. A source must actually support the claim for which it is cited.
The strength of sourcing required increases with the seriousness, novelty, risk, and potential harm of a claim. Significant allegations, safety claims, legal assertions, scientific findings, financial figures, and claims about a person’s conduct require particularly careful verification.
Source Hierarchy and Assessment
We prefer direct, primary, and contemporaneous evidence where available. This may include laws, court records, official statistics, regulatory decisions, audited filings, contracts, technical documentation, research papers, datasets, source interviews, authenticated correspondence, photographs, video, system records, and direct observation.
Primary evidence is not automatically reliable. A company filing may omit context; a government statement may be politically interested; a technical demonstration may be staged; a witness may be mistaken; a dataset may have methodological limits. Editors assess provenance, authenticity, independence, expertise, incentives, methodology, date, completeness, and corroboration.
Secondary sources are used for context, interpretation, comparison, and leads. Reputable reporting does not become a primary source merely because it is widely repeated. Circular citation and untraceable statistics are avoided.
Attribution
Facts, quotations, data, distinctive analysis, images, and documents obtained from others are attributed in a manner appropriate to the format. Online links should point as directly as practical to the supporting material rather than to an unrelated homepage or search result.
When a source is quoted, the quotation must preserve meaning and material context. Minor edits for clarity, such as removing verbal fillers, may be made only when they do not change meaning. Translations should be identified when relevant and reviewed for contested or sensitive language.
Links, Archives, and Access Dates
Where a source is public, we link to an authoritative and stable version when practical. For material likely to change or disappear, we may preserve a lawful archive, screenshot, download, or internal verification record. A preserved copy does not authorize republication beyond the applicable legal basis.
Dates of publication, update, access, retrieval, or archival capture are stated where they affect interpretation. Broken links may be replaced with an official archive or an equivalent source, with the change recorded when material.
Data and Research
Data-based claims should identify the source, time period, population, unit, methodology, and meaningful limitations. Correlation is not described as causation without adequate evidence. Small samples, self-selected surveys, unpublished methods, vendor-funded studies, preprints, and model-generated estimates are labeled and interpreted cautiously.
Research findings are described in proportion to the evidence. A single paper is not presented as scientific consensus. Retractions, corrections, conflicts, peer-review status, and replication concerns are considered where material.
Company, Government, and Advocacy Materials
Press releases, investor presentations, product demonstrations, white papers, commissioned research, government statements, and advocacy reports may contain useful facts but are interested sources. We identify their origin and independently test important claims where feasible.
When a company, founder, campaign, government, or other interested party supplies substantial documents, data, interviews, travel, access, or editorial materials, the relationship is disclosed when it would help readers evaluate the work. Supplied claims are not converted into verified facts merely through publication.
Anonymous and Confidential Sources
Anonymous sourcing is used only when the information has public-interest value, the source faces a credible reason for confidentiality, the information cannot reasonably be obtained on the record, and the responsible editor knows or can verify the source’s identity. The article should explain the reason for anonymity as specifically as safety permits.
A single anonymous source is rarely sufficient for a serious contested allegation. Corroboration may come from documents, independent witnesses, data, direct observation, or other credible evidence. Online Safety does not allow a source to use anonymity merely to make an avoidable personal attack, promote undisclosed interests, or escape accountability for a routine opinion.
User-Generated and Social-Media Material
Posts, screenshots, direct messages, videos, audio, and other online material are verified before use. Verification may include original-file review, metadata, geolocation, chronology, account history, reverse searching, source contact, visual analysis, and comparison with independent evidence. Virality is not verification.
We minimize republication of personal information and graphic material. Public availability does not eliminate privacy, safety, consent, or context concerns.
Artificial Intelligence and Synthetic Material
AI systems may assist discovery or workflow, but their output is not a source. A model-generated answer, summary, citation, quotation, image, or transcript must be verified against original material. We do not publish an AI-invented reference or rely on a chatbot’s confidence as evidence.
Synthetic or materially altered media is labeled when used. Authenticity claims involving deepfakes, cloned voices, generated images, or manipulated documents require technical and contextual verification proportionate to the risk.
Source Records and Protection
We retain source records for as long as reasonably necessary for verification, corrections, legal obligations, security, and accountability, subject to privacy and source-protection considerations. Access is limited according to need and sensitivity.
Promises of confidentiality must be made carefully and only by an authorized editor. No journalist can guarantee absolute security against every legal demand, device compromise, or technical breach. Sources are informed of material limitations where possible.
Corrections and Challenges
A source citation is corrected if it does not support the claim, misidentifies the source, omits material context, or points to the wrong version. Readers and cited organizations may challenge sourcing through corrections@onlineSafety.org.