One of the oldest American fact-checking projects has regained control of its hosting and majority control of its parent company. But an ongoing legal battle over its ownership isn’t likely to resolve anytime soon.
When Gabriella Angotti-Jones checked her email Thursday, she found something she wasn’t expecting.
“I got a Google Alert, because I signed up for Google Alerts for my name, and I’m used to ignoring them because they’re usually just from the (Tampa Bay) Times,” said the 23-year-old photo intern. “But then I clicked on a link and it went to Snopes, and I was like, ‘Snopes? What the heck?’”
In one day, Snopes received more than $500,000 worth of donations from nearly 20,000 people on GoFundMe in order to keep its doors open.
"Stunned and humbled by this. The money is incredibly helpful. The support is priceless," Managing Editor Brooke Binkowski wrote in a tweet Tuesday. "We won't forget. Thank you."
The owner of Snopes is locked in a legal battle with a small digital services company for control of the popular debunking site.
Proper Media — a company that owns, operates and represents web properties — has issued a legal complaint and demand for a jury trial with Snopes owner Bardav, Inc. for what it calls "a lengthy scheme of concealment and subterfuge to gain control of the company and to drain its profits," according to documents filed in the Superior Court of California in San Diego County.
Thirty-five organizations from 27 countries have signed a new code of principles that emphasizes the importance of transparency and a non-partisan approach.
Signatories include Africa Check, Chequeado, El Objetivo on La Sexta, Factcheck.org, Full Fact, PolitiFact, Snopes and the Washington Post's Fact Checker.
