Fake news, alternative facts, post-truth: this has definitely been the year of misinformation.

What's more, the rise of social media is rising as the primary news source for many people means that traditional ways of ensuring our information is correct are no longer up to scratch. Since 2010, Full Fact – the UK's independent factchecking charity – has been uncovering the truth behind statements made by politicians and in the media. We’ve been at the forefront of public debate in the country, having factchecked 3 elections and 2 referendums in the past 7 years. In 2013, we began thinking about what a system that could augment and automate the factchecking process might look like. In the past year we’ve come a long way to making it reality.

In this talk, I’ll take you through the unusual technical and philosophical difficulties that creating such a system entails, and show you how Python has helped us begin to tackle them.