Editing Fact-checking (section)

==== Political discourse ====
A 2015 experimental study found that fact-checking can encourage politicians to not spread [[misinformation]]. The study found that it might help improve political discourse by increasing the reputational costs or risks of spreading [[misinformation]] for political elites. The researchers sent, "a series of letters about the risks to their reputation and electoral security if they were caught making questionable statements. The legislators who were sent these letters were substantially less likely to receive a negative fact-checking rating or to have their accuracy questioned publicly, suggesting that fact-checking can reduce inaccuracy when it poses a salient threat."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|title = The Effect of Fact-Checking on Elites: A Field Experiment on U.S. State Legislators|journal = American Journal of Political Science|date = 1 July 2015|issn = 1540-5907|pages = 628–640|volume = 59|issue = 3|doi = 10.1111/ajps.12162|first1 = Brendan|last1 = Nyhan|first2 = Jason|last2 = Reifler|hdl = 10871/21568| s2cid=59467358 |hdl-access = free}}</ref>

Fact-checking may also encourage some politicians to engage in "strategic ambiguity" in their statements, which "may impede the fact-checking movement's goals."<ref name=":12" />