FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Plain answers about what lowbrowse is, how verification works, and what to expect from the beta.
The product
What is lowbrowse?
lowbrowse is a news app that delivers calm, verified news without sensationalism, engagement algorithms, or ads. It monitors 3,000+ news sources and official institutional feeds, corroborates stories across them, and presents each one as a concise card linked to its primary sources.
How is lowbrowse different from other news apps?
Three ways. No engagement algorithm decides what you see. Every claim links to its primary source — the actual law, the actual vote, the actual dataset. And anything can be disputed: every challenge is investigated through the same pipeline, and corrections publish to everyone. We optimise for being checkable, not for keeping you scrolling.
If there is no engagement algorithm, how is my feed ordered?
By recency and the topics you choose to follow — never by predictions about what will keep you engaged. Two people following the same topics see the same stories.
What are policy cards?
Policy cards track legislation rather than headlines: what a law changes, its status from proposal to effect, the full voting record by party, and a direct link to the legal text on EUR-Lex or the Bundestag's records. The news tells you something happened; the policy card shows you the thing itself.
Trust & verification
How does lowbrowse verify news?
Every story follows the same five-step pipeline: ingestion from monitored sources, corroboration across independent outlets, scoring for factuality and sensationalism, linking to primary documents, and an open dispute loop. Stories we cannot verify are labelled as unverified rather than presented as fact. The full pipeline is described on the methodology page.
What are factuality and sensationalism scores?
Two scores attached to every story. Factuality reflects how well a claim is corroborated by independent and primary sources. Sensationalism measures how much a framing exaggerates urgency or emotion beyond what the facts support. Scores shape presentation — calmer, plainer cards — they never hide a story.
Is lowbrowse politically neutral?
We do not aim for a political position — we aim for checkability. Sources across the spectrum are monitored and held to the same corroboration bar; primary documents outrank any outlet’s framing; and the same rules apply to every story with no editorial fast lane. When we get it wrong, the dispute mechanism exists precisely so you can prove it.
Does lowbrowse use AI?
Automated systems do the scale work — matching stories across thousands of sources and scoring them consistently. Judgement stays accountable: the pipeline is documented, outputs link to their sources, and every result can be disputed by any user. You never have to trust a model; you can check the work.
Can I dispute something lowbrowse publishes?
Yes — every card has a dispute action, and it is not decorative. Disputes re-enter the verification pipeline, are investigated against primary sources, and the outcome publishes as a visible correction to all users. This applies to our scores and our summaries, not just the underlying stories.
Which sources does lowbrowse use?
Over 3,000 monitored news outlets, plus official institutional feeds including the Deutscher Bundestag, the European Central Bank, EUR-Lex, Eurostat, Destatis, the Deutsche Bundesbank, GovData, and Our World in Data. Institutional and primary sources always outrank secondary reporting.
Practical
Is lowbrowse free? How do I join?
lowbrowse is free during the beta — sign up at lowbrowse.app and we will email your invite as your slot opens. The app and this site are available in English, German, and Turkish, with a focus on German and EU civic information at launch.
Who is behind lowbrowse?
lowbrowse is built by lowbrowse media UG (haftungsbeschränkt), an independent company based in Berlin, Germany, running on European infrastructure. Legal details are in the Impressum; questions and press: contact@lowbrowse.org.