Democracy

Changes who gets a say, or how much — voting access, concentration of power, weakened checks and balances, suppression of dissent or press.

Test: Does this change the structure of self-government, independent of the policy outcome?

Integrity

A gap between what an actor claims or is supposed to do, and what they actually do — false justifications, undisclosed conflicts, withheld information, broken commitments, retaliation.

Test: Did stated position match actual conduct?

Accountability

Whether the mechanisms meant to catch and correct the above are functioning — courts, oversight bodies, elections, a free press, equal enforcement.

Test: If a violation happened, can anything actually respond to it?

Misinformation

The claim as it originally circulated is false, exaggerated, or missing context that changes its meaning — independent of whether the underlying topic is real. This tag never lowers a story’s confidence tier on its own: a well-documented debunk can still be Confirmed, because "confirmed" means solidly sourced, not flattering to the original claim.

Test: Does the headline state the corrected finding, and does the evidence for that correction meet the same sourcing bar as any other story?

Confidence tiers

Alleged — single source, or user-submitted only.
Corroborated — two or more established outlets not citing each other.
Confirmed — primary document, or an on-record admission.

Editors can lower a tier, never raise it past the rule.