How pxCite rates claims
pxCite is software, and software can be wrong. So every card shows its sources, and you can check our work.
One check, start to finish
This levy triples what the county spends on buses.
The levy adds $4.2M a year to a $20M transit budget. That's a 21% increase, not triple.
What happens when someone speaks
- Listen. The audio is transcribed into short lines.
- Find claims. A fast model picks out statements that public records could confirm or contradict: numbers, rankings, votes, what a law does, what happened when. Opinions, predictions, promises and jokes are skipped.
- Check. A second model searches for the best primary sources it can find quickly: government statistics, official budgets and filings, roll-call votes, court records, bill text and established fact-check archives.
- Apply the rules. Fixed code, not the model, decides whether a check is allowed on screen (see below).
The ratings
Rules no prompt can override
- Every card cites. A source must be a page the search actually returned. Invented or guessed links are dropped, and a check with no real source becomes "unverifiable".
- "False" needs two independent sources. With only one site behind it, it is downgraded to "misleading".
- Low confidence stays off screen. Unsure checks go to the side feed, not the on-screen card.
- When in doubt, the milder rating. Between two ratings, pxCite picks the gentler one and lowers its confidence.
Neutrality
pxCite rates claims, never people. Every speaker and every party gets the same instructions, the same rules and the same thresholds. Cards give the real figure in one plain sentence, with no adjectives about the speaker and no sarcasm.
What it can get wrong
- Transcription mistakes can change what a claim says.
- Search is fast and shallow (two searches per claim), so a better source may exist.
- Search runs on today's web. pxCite tells the checker the day a claim was said and asks it to judge by what was known then, but a fact that came out later can still slip in.
- Sources can be wrong or out of date. That is why they are always shown.
Clips and footage
YouTube clips play through YouTube's own player; pxCite never downloads or re-hosts video. Prepared clip checks keep only the short quote behind each check, never the full transcript, and a person reviews every one before it is published. Clips you replay yourself stay in your browser; only short audio chunks are sent for transcription.
Found a mistake?
Use Report a problem, or "Flag this check" on any card, and tell us the clip, the time and what's wrong. Every report reaches the pxCite team. We fix the check and note the correction. Reports keep what you type, plus the check you flagged, so we can follow up.
pxCite is made by Pixel Potion. It is not affiliated with any broadcaster, campaign or party.