Page contentsPage contents Working with independent fact-checking organisations Fact-checking is a crucial pillar of the EU's approach to disinformation. Fact-checkers help assess and verify content to provide the public with accurate, reliable information they can trust. To promote fact-checking and raise awareness of fact-checked information to citizens, the European Union is supporting independent fact-checkers. The European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO)The EDMO is a project that supports an independent multidisciplinary community, composed of fact-checkers, academics, media literacy practitioners and other relevant stakeholders, joining forces to fight disinformation. The EDMO network provides a comprehensive geographic coverage of the EU. In view of the 2024 European elections, the EDMO set up a dedicated task force to detect and alert about the spread of disinformation. The task force issued daily updates about debunked disinformation (fact-checks), weekly updates with disinformation trends as well as early warnings and relevant investigations. The EDMO also conducted a media literacy campaign, 'Be Elections Smart'. The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFSCN)The EFSCN is an independent association of European fact-checking organisations that upholds and promotes the highest standards of fact-checking and media literacy to combat misinformation for the public benefit. The EFCSN and its verified members work to promote access to fact-checked trustworthy information and to educate the public in how to assess the accuracy of information in the public sphere. Supporting civil society organisations Under Horizon Europe and other programmes, the European Union is funding projects to empower civil society organisations across Europe to contribute to the fight against disinformation.The European Commission aims to strengthen their ability to monitor and report on disinformation, develop tools and resources, promote media literacy, and contribute to the public debate on this issue. Current funding opportunities Grants for media actionsThe European Parliament has launched a call for proposals to co-finance media actions by news agencies television channels, radio stations, digital media and written press. These media actions should have two objectives:Provide regular, reliable, pluralistic and non-partisan information on the political and legislative work of the European Parliament, including information on the implementation of EU legislation, emphasising its implications in the daily lives of European citizens. Actions can also include monitoring on the implementation of EU legislation.Contribute to resilience in society against disinformation and information manipulation through awareness raising, fact-checking and media literacy.The deadline to apply for funding is 15 January 2025.Support for information measures relating to the common agricultural policy (CAP)The Commission has launched its yearly call for proposals to co-finance projects that inform the public about the common agricultural policy (CAP). The objective of the call is to support information measures thatexplain and raise awareness on the EU support to agriculture and rural development through the CAPengage with farmers and other actors in rural areas, so that they communicate to their constituencies and the wider public about the CAPThe deadline to apply for funding is 16 January 2025.Support for cross-border media literacy projectsThe Commission has launched a call for proposals to support projects that enhance the media literacy skills of Europeans, support effective cross-border cooperation, and limit the detrimental impact of disinformation.The deadline to apply for funding is 6 March 2025. Examples of supported projects AI4TRUST - AI-based antidote to disinformation onlineThe AI4TRUST project will develop a hybrid system based on machine-human cooperation and advanced solutions based on AI. The idea is to support media professionals and policymakers in tackling disinformation. This system will make it possible to monitor numerous online social platforms in almost real timeflag content with a high risk of being disinformation for expert review by analysing multimodal (text, audio, visual) and multilingual content with novel AI algorithmsThe EU has provided around €5.9 million to support this project.EU-HYBNET - Innovative action to counter hybrid threatsThe EU-HYBNET project will focus on the preparation for and defending against hybrid threats, as well as on the development and building of a European network for the sector. To identify the most urgent needs for countering hybrid threats, the project will bring together practitioners and stakeholders. It will undertake in-depth analysis of the gaps and needs and test the most promising innovations (technical and social).The EU has provided around €3.4 million to support this project.FERMI - Detecting and monitoring fake newsThe FERMI project will apply a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary methodology to analyse disinformation and fake news, as well as the sources. The project willprovide a set of innovative technological developments for detecting and monitoring the spread of disinformation and fake newsproduce tailor-made training material for European Police Authorities, relevant stakeholders and EU citizensThe EU has provided around €3.9 million to support this project.TITAN - A toolkit to investigate if statements are trueThe TITAN project will develop an engaging ecosystem to empower citizens to question, investigate and understand whether a statement is true.Developed based on a human-centred approach, intelligent coaching conversational schemes will be personalised according to the investigating citizen’s profile.The EU has provided around €5.7 million to support this project.vera.ai - Fighting online disinformation with trustworthy AI solutionsThe vera.ai project will cooperate with media professionals and researchers to build trustworthy AI solutions. This will include a fact-checker-in-the-loop approach and AI models that constantly check updated sources and multimodal data. The project will facilitate the fight against complex disinformation technologies in all formats.The EU has provided around €5.6 million to support this project.VIGILANT - A new platform to help police fight online hate crimeThe VIGILANT project will develop a platform that can track and analyse disinformation to help police crackdown on internet hate crime. Specifically, the new platform features advanced disinformation identification and analysis tools and technologiesstate-of-the-art artificial intelligence methods that will be tailored to police needsIt can be used on all major social media platforms and websites and for all types of content (image, text and video) and multiple languages.The EU has provided around €3.3 million to support this project. Discover more EU-funded projects to counter disinformation Related links International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN)Horizon Europe - Research and innovation funding
Fact-checking is a crucial pillar of the EU's approach to disinformation. Fact-checkers help assess and verify content to provide the public with accurate, reliable information they can trust. To promote fact-checking and raise awareness of fact-checked information to citizens, the European Union is supporting independent fact-checkers.
Under Horizon Europe and other programmes, the European Union is funding projects to empower civil society organisations across Europe to contribute to the fight against disinformation.The European Commission aims to strengthen their ability to monitor and report on disinformation, develop tools and resources, promote media literacy, and contribute to the public debate on this issue.
