Editorial Standards & Ethics

Every major investigative report, explainer, safety signal, and platform assessment on Online Safety News includes a transparent Sourcing Ledger.

• Primary Materials First: We prioritize direct regulatory filings, published technical vulnerability disclosures, statutory legislative drafts, and peer-reviewed academic studies over unverified secondary claims.
• Dated Safety Signals & Trackers: Our safety signals and platform assessments represent dated editorial judgments based on documented evidence. We distinguish between verified findings, emerging trends, and areas of continuing regulatory uncertainty.

When our reporting criticizes, audits, or questions the safety practices, compliance postures, or policy decisions of platforms, commercial entities, or public figures:

• We provide the named party a reasonable opportunity to respond before publication.
• We reflect substantial responses fairly in our reporting, including any documented remediation steps taken by the platform or service.
• If a response is provided after initial publication, we update the article record with an explicit timestamp and provenance note.

As a publication investigating synthetic media, deepfakes, algorithmic harms, and automated systems, we maintain a clear policy on AI in our own newsroom:

• Human Editorial Authorship: All articles, guides, and analyses are written, reviewed, fact-checked, and published under named human bylines.
• No AI-Generated Synthetic Bylines: We do not publish pseudonymous AI personas or automated programmatic content farms.
• Research & Syntactic Tools: Journalists may use AI tools for syntax assistance, large-corpus dataset search, or transcription, provided all factual outputs are independently verified against primary sources.

We correct errors of fact promptly and transparently. Substantive corrections are documented in article provenance notes and indexed centrally on our public Corrections Log.

To report a factual inaccuracy, email our corrections desk at corrections@onlinesafetynews.com with the article URL and relevant evidence.

Editorial decisions are made solely by journalists and editors. We maintain strict separation between editorial coverage and any future sponsorships, grants, or advertisements. Advertisers and sponsors have no advance review, veto power, or influence over our reporting or platform assessments.