Checking the French Fact-checkers

This paper investigates the political bias of French fact-checkers. I collect a dataset including all articles published by 7 fact-checkers until July 2021. I study the political orientation of politicians fact-checked. First, I document a selection bias: the right-wing fact-checker is less likely to fact-check the right, and the State-funded outlets fact-check less the government. Moreover, I find a content bias: the right-wing fact-checker is relatively more likely to conclude that the right is correct. Finally, I show that polarization increases during the weeks preceding an election