Editorial standards

What we write about

We write only about official accounts and how to tell them from fakes:

• changes to verification on social media platforms, such as what a badge means, what it costs and who can get one;
• impersonation, and the scams that rely on fake “official” accounts;
• official accounts that move, change their handle, or are lost or recovered;
• platforms that launch or shut down, where that changes where official accounts are;
• what Verified Handles’ own data shows, and changes to Verified Handles itself.

We don’t cover general celebrity or technology news. We don’t publish sponsored posts, guest or third-party posts, affiliate links or press releases.

Sources and checks

We go to the primary source first: the platform’s own announcement or help pages, the account itself, or the organisation’s own statement. We link the sources we rely on, and say who said something when we can’t confirm it ourselves.

A story about a person or organisation says only what a source supports, and links their entry on Verified Handles, which shows where each of its handles comes from: see how we gather and check handles.

Data stories

A data story’s figures come from Verified Handles’ own database and handle checker. Each one says how the figures were worked out and what they can’t show, and names what is behind each figure: the query, or the version of the open dataset it was taken from.

Bylines and dates

Every article carries a byline. Where the author has an entry on Verified Handles, the byline links it; an article with no named author is by Verified Handles. Every article shows the date it was published, and an “Updated” date when it changes. News articles show the time too, in UK time.

Verified Handles is run by JEM Media: see About.

Corrections

When we get a fact wrong in a News article, we correct it and add a dated note at the article’s foot saying what changed, and the article’s “Updated” date moves. We don’t quietly rewrite what we published. A guide is kept up to date instead, and its “Updated” date moves when a change matters to a reader.

To tell us about a mistake in an article, contact us. For a wrong handle on an entry, see how corrections work.

Independence and money

No one pays to appear in an article, or to be left out of one. We run no ads and take no donations: Verified Handles is funded by JEM Media, the company that runs it. See Finances.

Reusing our articles

The words and chart images of our articles and guides are licensed CC BY 4.0: reuse them freely, crediting Verified Handles. The figures behind the charts, like all of Verified Handles’ data, are CC0: use them with no permission and no credit needed.