  Increasing demands for fact-checking has led to a growing interest in
developing systems and tools to automate the fact-checking process. However,
such systems are limited in practice because their system design often does not
take into account how fact-checking is done in the real world and ignores the
insights and needs of various stakeholder groups core to the fact-checking
process. This paper unpacks the fact-checking process by revealing the
infrastructures -- both human and technological -- that support and shape
fact-checking work. We interviewed 26 participants belonging to 16
fact-checking teams and organizations with representation from 4 continents.
Through these interviews, we describe the human infrastructure of fact-checking
by identifying and presenting, in-depth, the roles of six primary stakeholder
groups, 1) Editors, 2) External fact-checkers, 3) In-house fact-checkers, 4)
Investigators and researchers, 5) Social media managers, and 6) Advocators. Our
findings highlight that the fact-checking process is a collaborative effort
among various stakeholder groups and associated technological and informational
infrastructures. By rendering visibility to the infrastructures, we reveal how
fact-checking has evolved to include both short-term claims centric and
long-term advocacy centric fact-checking. Our work also identifies key social
and technical needs and challenges faced by each stakeholder group. Based on
our findings, we suggest that improving the quality of fact-checking requires
systematic changes in the civic, informational, and technological contexts.
