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Recto
Become a local correspondent

The project

Knowing who is speaking, before reading what is said

You know your local newspaper. A site that looks like one, you do not always know who publishes it or how long it has existed. Recto answers that question, and only that one, with public facts.

A machine spots, people check, the State decides, and readers see facts.

The problem

Some sites copy the name of an existing newspaper, take over the domain of a defunct title or invent a local newspaper from scratch. They appear in minutes and look like real news outlets.

The information needed to recognise them already exists, in public registers. But it is scattered, technical, and nobody checks it while reading an article.

2,000
domain names in .fr created every day, roughly. Only those that look like a news outlet are examined closely.
Afnic, daily open data
5 kinds
of open, free registers are enough to build a site’s card: companies (Sirene, RNE, Bodacc), associations (RNA), press (CPPAP), broadcasting (Arcom), domain names (Afnic).
Recto method

Two uses, the same facts

The dated facts taken from registers serve twice: to inform readers, and to spot sites imitating news media before they spread.

For readers

The ID card

On the website or from the extension, anyone can see at a glance who publishes a site, since when, and whether it is recognised as a press service. No score, no opinion.

See an example card

Against disinformation

Spot, check, forward

  1. 01CollectPublic registers, every day, with their source and date.
  2. 02SpotWritten rules flag names that imitate a news outlet.
  3. 03CheckTwo local correspondents review each case, without seeing each other’s answers.
  4. 04ForwardApproved case files go to the authorities, who decide.
Read the full method

Who makes Recto

Four developers from the Allier and Bordeaux, one student and three former students of Epitech, who have already run several projects together. They jointly hold the rights to the project and run it as equal partners.

Recto is published by AXO-LAB, a software company based in Avermes (Allier), which provides hosting and technical resources. The servers are in France.

Their roles and backgrounds

Safeguards

  • No score

    No rating, no colour code, no ranking. A card is read, not summed up.

  • The State has the last word

    Recto does not block, remove or report any site itself. It forwards evidence files.

  • A right of reply

    When a news outlet disputes its card, a panel decides, after a lead reviewer’s opinion. Every dispute is examined by people, never by an algorithm alone.

  • Everything is public

    The method is public; Recto’s code and data will be too.

Timeline

  1. October 2026The project beginsThe team is selected for the Disinformation hackathon, “citizen vigilance network” challenge.
  2. November 2026First testsTesters review the first cards and put the method to the test.
  3. 2 to 4 December 2026Final at the Grand PalaisRecto is presented to the hackathon jury in Paris.
  4. First half of 2027Pilot in the AllierThe local correspondents’ network opens in a first department.

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