# YouTube Shorts Fact Checker (`rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker`) Actor

Paste a public YouTube Shorts URL and fact-check the title and description for newsroom and brand-safety triage. Each Short returns claims, verdicts, cited web sources, a risk score, and a short summary. The publish date is kept for context. No login. Public Shorts only. $9.99 per 1,000 Shorts.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker.md
- **Developed by:** [rainminer](https://apify.com/rainminer) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $7.48 / 1,000 youtube short fact-checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

The **YouTube Shorts Fact Checker** reads public [YouTube Shorts](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/) and returns web-grounded fact-check triage — verifiable claims, verdicts, cited source URLs, risk levels, and a short summary. It is built for newsroom and brand-safety review of Shorts people can already open without logging in.

***

### What does YouTube Shorts Fact Checker do?

Paste public Shorts URLs and get AI-assisted claim analysis:

- Reads public Shorts on youtube.com and youtu.be (no login)
- Keeps the channel name and publish date so wording like "today" can be checked against that day
- Uses the public title and description as the text to check
- Extracts verifiable factual claims
- Verifies each claim with **live web search**
- Returns verdicts: `true`, `false`, `misleading`, `unverifiable`, or `opinion`
- Attaches **cited source URLs** with titles and snippets per claim
- Scores overall misinformation risk (`low` / `medium` / `high`)

> **Disclaimer:** This is AI-assisted triage with web search, not professional fact-checking. Verdicts are model judgments grounded in retrieved web sources. Verify independently before publishing or enforcement decisions.

Private, deleted, and age-gated Shorts are skipped.

***

### What data can you extract?

| Field         | Description                                      |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| `shortUrl`    | Canonical public Shorts URL                      |
| `videoId`     | YouTube video id                                 |
| `author`      | Channel name                                     |
| `postedAt`    | Publish time (ISO)                               |
| `title`       | Public title                                     |
| `description` | Public description, when it is not a placeholder |
| `text`        | Title plus description used for the check        |
| `linkUrls`    | Outbound links from that text                    |
| `imageUrl`    | Thumbnail                                        |
| `claimCount`  | Number of claims identified                      |
| `overallRisk` | Overall misinformation risk                      |
| `summary`     | 2–3 sentence overview                            |
| `claims`      | Claim objects (see below)                        |
| `disclaimer`  | AI limitation notice                             |
| `checkedAt`   | Analysis timestamp (ISO)                         |

Each claim in `claims` includes `claim`, `evidenceQuote`, `origin`, `verdict`, `confidence`, `rationale`, `riskLevel`, `sources`, and `searchQueries`.

Use the **Claims** dataset view in Apify Console for one row per claim.

***

### Why fact-check YouTube Shorts?

- **Newsroom triage** — prioritize Shorts with high-risk health, finance, or breaking-news claims
- **Trust and safety** — flag misleading titles before they are amplified
- **Brand safety** — screen creator Shorts for false claims before a sponsorship
- **OSINT workflows** — cross-check a viral Short against cited web sources
- **Election integrity** — surface misleading political titles with a publish-date context
- **Compliance monitoring** — audit public creator claims against advertising standards
- **Crisis response** — check an official Short against reporting from the same day
- **Influencer due diligence** — review a channel's public claims before a paid partnership
- **Research desks** — turn one Short into a claim table with source URLs
- **Platform moderation queues** — sort public Shorts by overall risk before a human review

***

### How to fact-check YouTube Shorts

1. Open the Actor in [Apify Console](https://console.apify.com/)
2. Paste one or more **public YouTube Shorts URLs**
3. Set **Max Shorts to check** (default 3)
4. Leave the proxy off unless your network blocks the request
5. Click **Start**
6. Download results from the **Output** tab (JSON, CSV, Excel, or API)

Example input:

```json
{
  "shortUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0uTo-oe2ecA"],
  "maxItems": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

Accepted hosts: `youtube.com`, `m.youtube.com`, `music.youtube.com`, `youtube-nocookie.com`, and `youtu.be`. Watch and embed links are normalized to a Shorts URL.

***

### Input

See the [input tab](https://apify.com/rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker/input) for the full configuration.

| Field                | Required | Default   | Description        |
| -------------------- | -------- | --------- | ------------------ |
| `shortUrls`          | yes      | —         | Public Shorts URLs |
| `maxItems`           | no       | `3`       | Max Shorts per run |
| `proxyConfiguration` | no       | proxy off | Optional proxy     |

***

### How much does it cost to fact-check YouTube Shorts?

Pay-per-event pricing on the Apify platform (platform usage included):

| Event | Price |
| ----- | ----- |
| Actor start | $0.00005 |
| `short-checked` | from **$0.05240** (GOLD) / **$0.06999** (FREE) per Short successfully checked |

Example: 1,000 public Shorts on the FREE tier ≈ **$69.99**, plus the actor start fee. Platform compute is included. Unavailable Shorts are not charged. Start with `maxItems: 1` before a larger run.

***

### Integrations

- **API** — call from any language via the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2)
- **Zapier / Make** — trigger fact-check runs from spreadsheets or alerts
- **Schedules** — re-check a saved list of public Shorts

***

### FAQ

#### Does this Actor log into YouTube?

No. It only reads Shorts that are already public. It does not accept a username, password, or session cookie.

#### What if a title has no checkable facts?

You still get a row: `claims` is empty, `claimCount` is 0, and `overallRisk` is `low`.

***

### Disclaimer

AI-assisted triage with web search is not a substitute for professional fact-checking. Confirm important claims with the cited sources before you publish or take an enforcement action.

# Actor input Schema

## `shortUrls` (type: `array`):

Public YouTube Shorts URLs to fact-check. Accepts /shorts/, watch?v=, and youtu.be links.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of Shorts to fact-check in a single run.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy for reading public Shorts. Leave Apify Proxy off unless a network blocks the request.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "shortUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0uTo-oe2ecA"
  ],
  "maxItems": 3,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

## `claims` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "shortUrls": [
        "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0uTo-oe2ecA"
    ],
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": false
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "shortUrls": ["https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0uTo-oe2ecA"],
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": False },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "shortUrls": [
    "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0uTo-oe2ecA"
  ],
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}' |
apify call rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,rainminer/youtube-shorts-fact-checker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/6WY4rTHZjXd6IrVKN/builds/YdGD1otrHuPWGsagK/openapi.json