UK's largest fact-checking firm, with India-born founder, folds up

Logically, Britain’s largest fact-checking company started by an India-born entrepreneur that once had assignments from Indian, UK and US govts as well as social media giants, has gone into “administration” -- a legal process where a debt-defaulting firm seeks court protection to restructure and avoid liquidation.

One of the key reasons why Logically, founded by Lyric Jain in 2017, folded up was social media giants moving away from AI-enabled fact checking. Meta and TikTok did not renew their contracts this year. Pressure on social media giants to fact-check has eased since US President Donald Trump took charge the second time early this year. Logically’s assets have been transferred to another company called Kreatur as part of the “administration” process.

Jain had founded Logically with backing from private investors. He had moved to the UK from Mysore at age 12. The company’s clients included US federal agencies, India’s Election Commission, Mumbai police, Karnataka, J&K and Assam govts. It also worked for Britain’s counter-disinformation unit during the pandemic and on debunking disinformation ahead of 2020 US elections.

Having won lucrative fact-checking contracts with TikTok and Meta earlier, Logically once boasted over 100 staff in the UK, India and US.

“The cost of doing fact-checking was getting increasingly expensive. When TikTok’s contract came up for renewal they offered a paltry amount not sufficient for running the technology. So, they went their separate ways. Meta did not renew because it was moving towards community-led fact checkers,” a source close to Logically told TOI.

Around the same time, the firm lost certification from International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), allegedly because the industry body does not allow fact-checkers to work for govts.

UK’s The Times newspaper claimed Logically being hired by Karnataka govt in early 2024 to set up a fact-checking unit to parse misinformation ahead of the Lok Sabha elections last summer led to the firm losing its certification. However, a source contested that version. “Karnataka govt did a proof of concept contract with Logically but nothing has happened ever since. IFCN does not have a monopoly on fact-checking,” the source said.

The same source disputed claims about Logically “losing” certification. “We didn’t renew it. Fact-checking with platforms was not an attractive business. Logically was gradually winding up that side of business to focus on corporate and govt customers for information advantage and providing competitive intelligence,” the source said.

A spokesperson for Kreatur, to which Logically’s assets have been channelled, confirmed the move. “Kreatur Ltd has acquired Logically’s core technology, brand, and key assets as part of a pre-pack administration process. The transaction ensures continuity for all customers and has preserved over 50 full-time roles,” the spokesperson said.