Expected Outcome:

The Network will support activities aiming at increasing fact-checking capacity and coverage across the EU. Such activities will include targeted support for fact-checkers, including collaboration activities, peer-to peer support as well as relevant technical infrastructure and tools to support their work.

Objective:

The EU supports the capacity of a multidisciplinary community to understand, monitor and counter disinformation.

The objective of this topic is to maintain and further develop a platform supporting the operations of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), as well as deepening the language coverage and operational capacity of fact-checking in Europe.

In particular, the topic will support the operational cooperation between fact-checkers, researchers and media literacy practitioners across the EU through EDMO and support fact-checkers, with the aim to contribute to the fight against disinformation, to gain further insight on disinformation, monitoring of the disinformation space, debunking disinformation through the network of fact-checkers, and increasing the resilience of media professionals and citizens to disinformation.

Scope:

The scope of this work strand is to strengthen the capacity of the European fact-checking community and making fact-checking available in all languages, building on and further expanding activities initially carried out by European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) and other European fact-checking initiatives like the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). Activities may also cover candidate and accession countries, associated to the Programme, in view of the specific vulnerabilities to disinformation and Russian interference in this region.

Funded activities, including through financial support to third parties, may include items such as:

• collaboration activities and capacity building for joint investigations;
• peer-to-peer support from established fact-checking organisations to newly created ones;
• technical infrastructure / tools supporting the activities of fact-checkers;
• targeted trainings for fact-checkers and media professionals, with particular emphasis on supporting the emergence of fact-checking in regions and languages that are currently not yet well covered.

To enshrine the independence of fact-checkers, activities funded will build on the independence and transparency standards developed by the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN).

Through this dedicated work strand, fact-checkers capacity to play a vital role in the fight against disinformation will be further developed and supported. The funded activities shall also empower European Fact-Checkers to work hand-in-hand with the European Democracy Shield, ensuring full complementarity.