Governmental fact-checking or ‘ fact-washing ’? Assessing the (un)biasedness and (im)partiality of the Centre for Countering Disinformation in Turkey

This study investigates the fact-checking practices of Turkey’s Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), a particularly revealing case of governmental fact-checking in a competitive authoritarian setting, asking whether and how it engages in ‘fact-washing’, the propagandistic misuse of fact-checking to legitimise governmental narratives. Through a mixed-method analysis of 1,165 fact-checks across 146 disinformation bulletins, the findings reveal a systematic pattern: the CCD disproportionately targets opposition and foreign actors, leaves government-aligned narratives unchecked, and relies heavily on state sources to legitimise its assessments. It also deploys differentiated delegitimisation strategies depending on claim origin. Introducing the concept of fact-washing, this article contributes to debates on disinformation governance and the politicisation of fact-checking.