Global Overview: Good Practices to Counter Disinformation
Since 2023, we have been working on an international research project to develop measures for dealing with disinformation. In all parts of the world, we have found important and outstanding projects that are resolutely countering digital disinformation.
Through our own research, expert interviews and a series of research collaborations with outstanding regional partners, we were able to identify over 200 initiatives and organizations that are successfully tackling the many facets and challenges of disinformation in all parts of the world, which you can find on our full list. In highlights, we show interviews and stories and give a vivid impression of individual actors who have particularly impressed us.
In all parts of the world, we have found important and outstanding projects that are resolutely countering digital disinformation. The following interviews and stories give a vivid impression of individual actors who have particularly impressed us.
Overview of all identified projects in dealing with disinformation
Our overview currently contains around 230 projects from all over the world that deal with combating disinformation. The table allows you to filter by individual regions, method access, stakeholder group and thematic keywords. As soon as you select an entry, a short description and further links will open.
211Check is South Sudan’s first and only independent fact-checking and information verification flagship project established in March 2020 to counter COVID-19 dis/misinformation. 211Check is managed and run by DEFY HATE NOW (DHN), a National Nongovernmental Organisation (NNGO) registered in South Sudan. They maintain databases of fact-checked information and use open source verification to fact-check and debunk.
4C Strategies is a consultancy and software company with modules for risk management, business continuity, compliance and crisis management. They train institutions and organisation in terms of readiness and resilences, with customers from over 100 countries, primarily defense forces, high-profile, international organizations and global private corporations.
Access Now defends and extends the digital rights of people and communities at risk. By combining direct technical support, strategic advocacy, grassroots grantmaking, and convenings such as RightsCon, we fight for human rights in the digital age. Two core areas of their work include Content Governance and Freedom of Speech. Access Now has registered offices in Belgium, Costa Rica, Germany, Tunisia, and the United States, with operations in more than 20 countries across six continents.
ADISI-Cameroon is a civil society organization whose core business is information and information governance. Its main aim is to give Cameroonian citizens easy access to information and freedom of expression.
AFP Fact Check is a department within Agence France-Presse (AFP), a multi-lingual, multicultural news agency whose mission is to provide accurate, balanced and impartial coverage of news wherever and whenever it happens in the world on a continuous basis.
Since its inception in 1999, the Africa Center has served as a forum for research, academic programs, and the exchange of ideas with the aim of enhancing citizen security by strengthening the effectiveness and accountability of African institutions. They monitor and map foreign disinformation campaigns, highlighting objectives and tactics. The Africa Center is an academic institution within the U.S. Department of Defense established and funded by Congress for the study of security issues relating to Africa and serving as a forum for bilateral and multilateral research, communication, training, and exchange of ideas involving military and civilian participants.
Africa Check, the continent’s first independent non-profit fact-checking organisation, supported by philanthropic organisations and individual donors, was established in South Africa in 2012. This team has debunked inflammatory statements about the number of foreign nationals in the country and revealed errors in the national crime statistics.
Africa Check’s francophone office, established in Senegal in 2015, led to an international health agency correcting information it shared about teen pregnancies.
Our offices in Nigeria, set up in 2016, and Kenya, opened in 2017, have set the record straight on important issues such as “child prostitution” and the extent of chronic depression.
Collectively, our team of nearly 40 has published more than 1,300 fact-check reports and fact-checked over 1,800 claims, published 180 factsheets and 47 guides on contested issues and trained 4,500 journalists on verification best practices. More than 17 million people have visited our website, viewing over 23.5 million pages.
Through our work we seek to reduce the spread and impact of misinformation and promote accurate, evidence-based understanding in the public, governments and media. This will ultimately strengthen democracy, foster engaged citizenship and improve life outcomes across the continent.
African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL)
Headquarter
Nigeria
Level of Engagement
Prevention & Education
Launch Date
2008
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Africa
Methodology
Other
AFRICMIL is non-government organisation that focuses on media, information, research, advocacy and training. It aims to promote media and information literacy as a key component in the enhancement of democracy and good governance and the promotion of accountability and orderly society.
Strategically, ACME occupies the space between the media industry and academic institutions that train journalists. The centre is committed to excellence in journalism and mass communication in Africa, starting in Uganda. Their main goal is to make the media a more effective platform for the provision of information on public affairs, a tool for monitoring official power, and a forum for vibrant public debate.
The African Digital Democracy Observatory (ADDO) is a network of independent research think tanks and investigative watchdogs that monitor for coordinated attempts to subvert African democracies. ADDO was originally co-founded by the continent’s largest civic technology and open data non-profit, Code for Africa (CfA), in partnership with the Atlantic Council’s global Digital Forensic Lab (DFRLab) and the DT Institute in 2020 to help coordinate their ongoing research into foreign disinformation and propaganda campaigns that targeted an initial 21 sub-Saharan African countries.
The African Fact-Checking Alliance (AFCA) is a network of media and civil society organizations that work to counter misinformation. The network supports fact-checking missions to debunk dangerous content, including conspiracy theories and misinformation.
AI Forensics is a European non-profit that investigates influential and opaque algorithms. AI Forensics holds major technology platforms accountable by conducting independent and high-profile technical investigations to uncover and expose the harms caused by their algorithms. AI Forensics is the continuation of Tracking Exposed. Tracking Exposed was founded by Claudio Agosti in 2016 with the help of the Italian hacktivist community to develop means and collect evidence that personalization algorithms are a form of power and they should be understood as such.
The Alliance of Democracies Foundation (AoD) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the advancement of democracy and free markets across the globe. It maintains various initiatives combatting disinformation such as the Media LitLab and the Disinformation Diaries.
Alliance4Europe works to achieve its mission of a more democratic and more powerful Europe through a selection of projects taking place across the continent. In 2019, they set out a strategy based on three pillars of action: Community Building, Digital Intelligence, and Campaign Creation. They support groups of actors to come together to cooperate and develop effective digital tools for impact, which they then roll out through campaigns for impact with those communities.
Alt News is a fact-checking website that is committed to debunking misinformation, disinformation and mal-information that we encounter on a daily basis on social media as well as mainstream media. The legal entity behind AltNews.in is a not-for-profit company called Pravda Media Foundation.
Amadeu Antonio Foundation aimes to strengthen a democratic civil society that consistently opposes right-wing extremism, racism and anti-Semitism. To this end, it supports initiatives and projects that are continuously committed to a democratic culture and advocate for the protection of minorities.
ADL fights all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.
Aos Fatos is a journalistic organization dedicated to investigating disinformation campaigns and fact-checking. It bets on the hybrid between technology and journalistic investigation to inform about the lies that politicians tell, the disinformation campaigns that the powerful coordinate and the influence of technology companies in this environment. Its production is based on a rigorous methodology of verification recognized by transnational partnerships, awards and state institutions.
ADL fights all forms of antisemitism and bias, using innovation and partnerships to drive impact. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.
ARTICLE 19 is an international think–do organisation that propels the freedom of expression movement locally and globally to ensure all people realise the power of their voices. ARTICLE 19 works for a world where all people everywhere can freely express themselves and actively engage in public life without fear of discrimination.
We do this by working on two interlocking freedoms: the Freedom to Speak, and the Freedom to Know. Among others, they run trainings and campaigns on media and information literacy.
ADC is a civil society organization based in Argentina that, since its foundation in 1995, works to defend and promote of civil and human rights in Argentina and Latin America.
The Aspen Institute Germany is a German non-profit think tank focusses on Euro-Atlantic cooperation, geopolitical and geoeconomic conflicts as well as digitization. As part of their digital programm, they place particular emphasis on counter-disinformation efforts and among others, run a training series for social media influencers.
ABLOGUI aims to promote citizen participation through information and communication technologies. In particular, they use digital technology for democracy and good governance.
Atlantic Council Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab)
Headquarter
USA
Level of Engagement
Support & Ressources
Launch Date
2016
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Global
Methodology
Monitoring
The Digital Forensic Research Lab intends to identify, expose, and explain disinformation where and when it occurs using open source research; to promote objective truth as a foundation of government for and by people; to protect democratic institutions and norms from those who would seek to undermine them in the digital engagement space.
Bad News, the player takes on the role of fake news-monger. The goal of the game is to expose the tactics and manipulation techniques that are used to mislead people and build up a following. Bad News works as a psychological “vaccine” against disinformation: playing it builds cognitive resistanceIn against common forms of manipulation that you may encounter online. The game was developed by the Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab and the company Tilt.
Be Internet Awesome is a Google project that teaches kids aged 7-12 the fundamentals of digital citizenship and safety so they can explore the online world with confidence.
Beam Reports is an independent Sudanese media platform that provides diverse journalistic content through modern digital journalism tools. Beam Reports produces reliable investigative and explanatory reports, as well as fact-checking and public opinion polls.
BEE SECURE is a government initiative from Luxembourg, co-funded by the European Commission. It provides information and recommendations regarding responsible use of the Internet. Itsystematically organizes training sessions at elementary and high schools and is present at public events.
Bellingcat is an independent investigative collective of researchers, investigators and citizen journalists brought together by a passion for open source research. Founded in 2014, they have pioneered the use of open source research methods to investigate a variety of subjects of public interest. They design and share verifiable methods of ethical digital investigation. By publishing walkthroughs to open source research methods and holding tailored training sessions on their use for journalists, human rights activists and members of the public, they’re broadening the scope and application of open source research.
The betterplace lab is a digital-social think-and-do tank. They are the sister of betterplace.org, Germany’s largest online donation platform. Their focus is on networking and providing space for research.
Bolivia Verifica is an independent, non-profit, non-political digital media that aims to verify news and public discourse to fight disinformation and improve democratic participation. Their methodology is provided by the Argentine organization “Chequeado” that advises in several Latin American countries. The transfer of methodology and know-how was carried out through face-to-face workshops, online courses and permanent virtual tutoring.
BOOM is an independent digital journalism initiative with a mission to fight misinformation, explain issues and make the internet safer. It was one of the first Indian organisations to get certified by the International Fact Checking Network (IFCN) and also the first to partner with Facebook on its Third Party Fact Checking Programme from India.
Bot Sentinel helps to fight disinformation and targeted harassment. Bot Sentinel is designed to be simple to use and as informative as possible. The goal of the bot is to publicly display detailed information about Twitter accounts the platform is tracking to give visitors of this website a better understanding of how nefarious accounts spread disinformation and target other accounts. In doing so, Bot Sentinel tries to be as transparent as possible and give visitors as many data points as possible. Bot Sentinel is a non-partisan platform which means that all accounts are being tracked. The platform uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to classify Twitter accounts and add the accounts to a publicly available database that anyone can browse.
Bucerius Lab is the ZEIT Foundation’s laboratory for future issues. It focuses on the digital transformation, which has become a central driver of social, economic, political and cultural change. On the one hand, the Lab maps current debates in the form of events, exhibitions and writings; on the other hand, it aims to enrich social discourse through its own impulses and Fellow projects. The new initiative “Redaktionelle Gesellschaft” aims to challenge harmful disinformation narrative and strengthen journalistic approaches.
Build Up uses new tools for old problems, and old tools for new problems. Build Up implements programs, conducts research, and develops technical solutions to engage with conflict and to build societies in which everyone can thrive. Build Up is a digital-first organization, which means it uses both digital technologies throughout its peacebuilding work while offering a deep understanding of the impact of technology on conflict.
BN Check is a project created and supported by the electronic newspaper Business News in the global movement against fake news. It was created in August 2019 on the eve of the 2019 legislative and presidential elections, becoming the first fact checking newspaper to be launched in Tunisia.
Bytes for All (B4A), Pakistan is a human rights organization and a research think tank with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). It conducts research on the issues related to impacts of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on the society and implement field projects in the light of this research. Its focus has always been on human rights, community development, environment and social well-being. B4A has vast experience in organizing research both primary and/or secondary data research with a task of designing the methodologies both qualitative and quantitative approaches, doing field-level survey, desk or web research, analyzing and synthesizing information, authoring or editing reports and communicating research results.
The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) is a non-governmental organization (NGO). CCIM was organized to work for the promotion of independent media, press freedom, freedom of expression, access to information and internet freedom. CCIM is positioned to play a key role in disseminating reliable, credible, balanced and trusted news and information via multi-media platforms. CCIM strives to bring about fundamental change in Cambodian society, a society without violence and impunity and with full human rights and freedom of expression.
CaptainFact is a web-based collection of tools designed for collaborative verification of internet content. It includes a browser extension that provides a video overlay to internet videos with sources and contextual information, as well as icons showing the credibility based on user votes. It also has a “debate platform” that allows for discussions of specific points. While currently focused on video, they are developing a tool to provide a similar overlay to articles. the goal is to provide real-time fact-checking.
The Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD) is a board-led, not-for-profit organization registered in Ethiopia under the Civil Societies Law working to build up democratic mass cultures in popular movements through awareness creation, organizing, and advocacy embedded with human rights values.
Cazadores de Fake News is a Venezuelan non-governmental organization that monitors disinformation spread through social networks and instant messaging in Venezuela and several Latin American countries.
Cek Fakta Liputan 6 is the fact checking department of the news website Liputan 6. Liputan6.com is a news portal registered and verified with the Indonesian Press Council. The latest and accurate information presented Liputan6.com focuses on the accuracy and sharpness of news with reliable sources of information. Liputan6.com does not work for any political interest and stands above and for all, as well as non-partisan.
cekfakta.com is a fact-checking collaborative project built on API Yudistira by MAFINDO (Indonesian Anti-Defamation Society) and in collaboration with several online media that are members of AJI (Alliance of Independent Journalists) and AMSI (Indonesian Cyber Media Association) and supported by Google News Initiative and Internews and FirstDraft.
The nonprofit organisation CeMAS consolidates years of interdisciplinary expertise on the topics of conspiracy ideologies, disinformation, antisemitism, and right-wing extremism. By means of systematic online monitoring and modern research designs, CeMAS analyzes current developments in order to derive comprehensive strategies to counter disinformation.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate works to stop the spread of online hate and disinformation through innovative research, public campaigns and policy advocacy. It holds Social Media companies accountable and responsible for their business choices by highlighting their failures, educating the public, and advocating change from platforms and governments to protect our communities.
Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC)
Headquarter
South Africa
Level of Engagement
Communication & Media
Launch Date
2017
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
National
Methodology
Monitoring
The CABC is a non-profit company. They work across a variety of thematic areas including; social and political division, social prejudice, public health and safety, and sustainability.They amplify civil society messaging in the digital age to empower citizens and communities. Their work spans social media narrative analytics, advanced network analytics, communication strategy, creative content generation, online dialoguing and academic research and media partnerships to achieve high impact-based, expert-driven and evidence-based information.
Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD-West Africa)
Headquarter
Nigeria
Level of Engagement
Communication & Media
Launch Date
1997
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Africa
Methodology
Fact Checking
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) was established in the United Kingdom in 1997 and subsequently registered in Lagos – Nigeria in 1999 as an independent, not-for-profit, research, training, advocacy and capacity building organisation. The Centre was established to mobilise global opinion and resources for democratic development and provide an independent space to reflect critically on the challenges posed to the democratization and development processes in West Africa, and also to provide alternatives and best practices to the sustenance of democracy and development in the region. CDD envisions a West Africa that is democratically governed, economically integrated – promoting human security and people-centered development.
Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)
Headquarter
Nigeria
Level of Engagement
Prevention & Education
Launch Date
1996
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Africa
Methodology
Other
CITAD is a non-governmental and non-profit organization that is committed to the use of information and communication technologies for development and promotion of good governance. CITAD sees technology as tool to promote sustainable development, good government and peaceful coexistence. It uses ICT to empower youth and women through access to information, skills and online mentoring opportunities. It utilises such platforms such as social networking, web-to-text interface and tools such as Google alert to provide information that promote peaceful coexistence.
The Centre for Innovation and Technology is a private journalism and media enterprise whose vision is to be a leading digital technology centre and innovation hub for citizen participation. They fact checking Zimbabwian elections, health information and “promises” from local politicians.
Check First was founded to fight against disinformation. They gathered skills and knowledge to build a company that is at a corner stone of the fact-checking world.
They provide fact-checkers, researchers and policy makers tools, methodologies and solutions to gather their forces in the fight against fake-news. Focus on innovative and scalable software solutions. Check First also builds the FACT network, a new blockchain with a token-based incentive mechanism for a decentralised global information verification system and database network.
Checkology is a free e-learning platform with engaging, authoritative lessons on subjects like news media bias, misinformation, conspiratorial thinking and more. It is build by the News Literacy Project, a nonpartisan education nonprofit, which is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy.
Chequeado, a non-governmental, non-profit, non-partisan organization whose mission is to contribute to improving the quality of public debate to strengthen the democratic system. This is done through verifying public discourse, fighting disinformation, promoting access to information and opening up data in innovative environments to bring evidence to public discussion and encourage critical thinking in society.
The Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) works to promote effective and inclusive ICT policy and practice for improved governance, livelihoods, and human rights in Africa. Their work focuses on advocacy and policy advances, which is informed by a network of collaborators in Africa and globally, who share in the vision of advancing an open, safe and free internet. Through this network, they advance online rights, conduct research, share insights, and seek opportunities to widen the reach of online rights advocacy.
Circuito is an information and analysis initiative on the intersection between democracy and social media in Latin America. It focuses on content moderation, regulation of internet platforms and attention economy. It was initiated by Linterna Verde.
ClaimBuster is the umbrella under which all fact-checking related projects for the IDIR Lab fall under. It started as an effort to create an AI model that could automatically detect claims worth checking. Since then it has steadily made progress towards the holy grail of automated fact-checking. The tool is mainly used by journalists but invites human data-labeling contributions.
Climate Action Against Disinformation (CAAD) coalition
Headquarter
Level of Engagement
Regulation & Policies
Launch Date
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Global
Methodology
Other
CAAD is a global coalition of over 50 leading climate and anti-disinformation organisations demanding robust, coordinated and proactive strategies to deal with the scale of the threat of climate misinformation and disinformation.
Climate Feedback is a worldwide network of scientists sorting fact from fiction in climate change media coverage. Their goal is to help readers know which news to trust. It is developed by the Science Feedback association, a not-for-profit organisation registered in France whose mission is defined in its status as to improve the credibility of science-related information online, in the media and on social media.
Cocuyo chequea is the fact-checking department of the Venezuelan meda outlet Efecto Cocuyo. It is led by four women journalists who have combined factors that reflect the influence and unique perspective that women bring in the field of journalism and communication.
Code for All is a global network composed of 31 civic tech organizations from around the world. The mission is to connect civic tech organizations so they can learn from each other, leading to greater impact in their local communities.
Codetekt is a non-profit organization with the goal of developing strategies for detecting and mitigating misinformation. Their crowd-sourced and community-driven approach centers on the idea of trust-checking.
Coding Rights is an organisation that operates and discusses technology from a collective, transfeminist, decolonial, and antiracist perspective of human rights advocacy. They utilize creativity and hacker knowledge to stimulate imaginations that challenge power inequalities. Among other initiatives, they traced ads and other data profiling tactics to spread misinformation during the Brazilian elections.
Cofact Project or the collaborative fact-checking platform in Thailand is an initiative by a network of civil society in Thailand that intends to establish an open, safe, and creative space for co-finding facts in the “info-demic” era. The founders of CoFact was inspired by CoFact initiative started in Taiwan.
Cofacts is an information checking platform operated through crowd collaboration and with the help of chatbots. Their crowd-sourced approach aims to surface the process of credibility and fact-checking. Cofacts is a citizen-initiated platform that is not affiliated to any political party or politicians.
The COM-PRESS research project develops detection methods that journalists can use to detect and debunk image manipulations. It investigates new, promising techniques that look deeper than what can be seen with the naked eye.
Congo Check is a francophone media outlet specialized in fact-checking. It is a project of the non-profit organization “Initiative des fact-chechekers du Congo, IFC”. Since 2021, Congo Check has the support of Free Press Unlimited (FPU), as a partner. First in university research, and currently in the implementation of a fact-checking project in areas under siege in eastern DRC.
Contextual is an initiative that seeks to aggregate information and analysis in political and electoral contexts with the aim of improving the quality of public debate
CORRECTIV.Faktencheck is an independent editorial team that is part of the non-profit investigative research organisation CORRECTIV. They work to counter disinformation online and raise awareness how people can protect themselves against misinformation. they are a membre of the international fact-checking network (IFCN).
Cotejo.info is the first Venezuelan fact-checking organization. It is connected to the NGO Medianálisis, a non-profit organization commited to media freedom in Venezuela.
RAND is a non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. RAND launched “counrering truth decay” to restore the role of facts in public life.
The Credibility Coalition is a research community that fosters collaborative approaches to understanding the veracity, quality and credibility of online information that is a foundation of civil society. They are journalists, researchers, academics, students, policy-makers, technologists and engaged non-specialists, who aim to develop common standards for information credibility by incubating activities and initiatives that bring together people and institutions from a variety of backgrounds.
Cyabra is a Social Threat Intelligence Company. Cyabra uncovers threats, provides actionable insights and real-time alerts, with the intent to protect companies, products, and people from cyberattacks.
Czech Elves is a civic movement that maps, analyzes and actively fights foreign disinformation campaigns on the Internet. They found loose inspiration in a similar movement of Elves from the Baltic republics, who have been fighting against Russian hybrid and disinformation operations for years. While most volunteers are focused on Czech narratives, they also monitor and anlze the influence of other regions.
Dare to be Grey is an organisation, a campaign, a platform, as well as a movement. Regardless of what they are, there’s one key element that binds all of these identities together: the mission to elevate the Grey Middle Ground to a higher stage. Dare to be Grey does that both online and offline, through researching and sharing inspiring stories on their platform, and by facilitating debates, events, trainings and workshops. Polarisation, disinformation, and hate are on the rise. This black-and-white worldview can lead to a downward spiral of division and alienation, and cause us-versus-them narratives. Dare to be Grey works towards the prevention of this in society by creating awareness about the dynamics and pitfalls of polarisation, disinformation, and hate. They’ve built a library of conspiracies to help educate people on the narratives, dynamics and tactics.
Das NETTZ is a networking hub bringing together initiatives and activists against online hate speech. It promotes digital civil courage and advocates a constructive culture of discourse on the Internet. Civil society actors are strengthened in their work and collaboration in the field is promoted. It was launched as part of betterplace lab in 2017 and became an independent entity in 2022.
DataLEADS is a digital media and tech company aimed to help people understand and engage with the world around them. DataLEADS works on the complexity of a dynamic and evolving information ecosystem. At the core of the work lies a profound belief that authentic information is central to human empowerment.
Debunk Media Initiative Uganda is a fact-checking organization and show series that aims at breaking the cycle of misinformation and fakenews through multi-media projects.
Debunk.org, VsI, is an independent technology think tank and non-governmental organization that researches disinformation and runs educational media literacy campaigns. Debunk.org carries out disinformation analyses in the Baltic countries, Poland, Georgia and Montenegro, as well as in the United States and North Macedonia together with our partners.
The Demagog Association is a team of analysts and educators who prioritize facts. Their mission is to combat fake news and disinformation, and to provide citizens with reliable, impartial, and verified information. They are a leading fact-checking organization in Poland.
The Demagog.cz project is an independent fact-checking platform, which aims to cultivate public debate, especially through the verification of factual claims of the political elite. It is a verified member of the IFCN and a verified fact-checker für Meta.
Derechos Digitales is an independent, non-profit organization with Latin American scope, whose main objective is the development, defense and promotion of human rights in the digital environment.
Digital Access is a local Cameroonian rights organization with the missions of promoting digital rights, fighting hate speech, promoting Internet freedoms and the promotion of digital technology.
The Digital Enquirer Kit is an e-learning course that guides learners through lessons on how to prevent the spread of misinformation. The course covers topics including media literacy, verification, and how to navigate the internet safely. It has been developed by Tactical Tech and is available in 9 languages.
Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Center (DFRAC)
Headquarter
India
Level of Engagement
Communication & Media
Launch Date
2021
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Asia-Pacific
Methodology
Fact Checking
Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (DFRAC) is a non-partisan and independent media organisation which focuses on fact-checking and identifying hate speech.
The Digital Society Project was founded in 2018 with the goal of analyzing the complex effects of Internet and social media on the different layers of society. The Digital Society Project (DSP) aims to answer some of the most important questions surrounding interactions between the internet and politics. They provide high-quality, publicly available, data describing the intersection between politics and social media in countries around the world. While there is great demand for such data, reliable measures of key indicators, with wide global and temporal coverage, are largely unavailable.
DISARM is an open framework for those cooperating in the fight against disinformation. Reducing the significant risks and harms to humanity requires ever better cooperation across disciplines and boundaries. DISARM is an open-source framework for fighting disinformation through the coordination of effective action. The Framework has been developed, drawing on global cybersecurity best practices. It is used to help communicators, from whichever discipline or sector, to gain a clear shared understanding of disinformation incidents. It is widely referenced by security and foreign policy institutions.
Disinfo Radar anticipates the disinformation toolkit of tomorrow to strengthen democratic societies’ preparedness for the challenges ahead. The project is developed by Democracy Reporting International and is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office. Disinfo Radar examines three core pillars of disinformation: Emerging technological tools used to produce disinformation; new tactics for propagating manipulated content; and those untold stories harnessing these tools and tactics to frame false narratives.
DisinfoWatch is a Canadian foreign disinformation monitoring and debunking platform. DisinfoWatch’s data is sourced through an international network of journalists, civil society organizations and analysts, as well as some automated sources, and is anaylized and exposed in order raise broader general awareness of disinformation and build long-term resilience against it.
Doublethink Lab was founded in 2019 to strengthen democracy through enhancing digital defenses. Their work focuses on researching malign Chinese influence operations and disinformation campaigns and their impacts via the digital tools and methodologies they developed.
DUBAWA is a West African independent verification and fact-checking project, initiated by the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) and supported by the most influential newsrooms and civic organisations in West Africa to help amplify the culture of truth in public discourse, public policy, and journalistic practice. It has a presence in Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and The Gambia.
The Reporters’ Lab is a center for journalism research in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University. Their core projects focus on fact-checking, but they also do occasional research about trust in the news media and other topics. In the counter-disinformation space, the Duke Tech & Check Cooperative stands out as a collection of products and tools that use automation and other technologies to expand the reach of fact-checking. The Lab is funded by the Knight Chair endowment as well as grants from Knight Foundation, the Google News Initiative, the Facebook Journalism Project and Craig Newmark.
El Sabueso (‘The Hound’) is the fact-checking arm of the news site Animal Politico, a digitally native media outlet that brings together journalists, designers, programmers and video editors to create content with rigor, precision and designed to serve citizens.
ElectoFacts is a resource that Canadian voters can use to easily check whether information they come across about Canada’s federal electoral process is true or not. ElectoFacts also offers information on how federal elections are run and the safeguards in place to protect them.
Ethiopia Check is a fact-checking desk that monitors media and social media reports and develops appropriate responses by providing fake news alerts to newsrooms and on its social media accounts and website.
As an independent non-profit organisation, EU DisinfoLab gathers knowledge and expertise on disinformation in Europe. Through putting together research, investigative work and policy acumen, EU DisinfoLab is an active member of, and supports, a passionate and vast community that helps to detect, tackle, and prevent information disorders endangering citizens’ integrity, peaceful coexistence and democratic values.
EDMO is an independent observatory bringing together fact-checkers and academic researchers with expertise in the field of online disinformation, social media platforms, journalist driven media and media literacy practitioners. There are currently 14 national hubs that coordinate their work through EDMO. EDMO promotes scientific knowledge on online disinformation, advances the development of fact-checking services and supports media literacy programmes.
EUvsDisinfo is the flagship project of the European External Action Service’s East StratCom Task Force. It was established in 2015 to better forecast, address, and respond to the Russian Federation’s ongoing disinformation campaigns affecting the European Union, its Member States, and countries in the shared neighbourhood. EUvsDisinfo’s core objective is to increase public awareness and understanding of the Kremlin’s disinformation operations, and to help citizens in Europe and beyond develop resistance to digital information and media manipulation.
Fact Crescendo is an independent, unbiased fact-checking website that is committed to bringing the fact behind every news, debunking of mis-interpreted & hoax news on a daily basis on false, mis-informed, social media as well as mainstream media. It is a part of Crescendo Transcription Private Limited (CTPL) a private limited company registered in India.
Facta.news is a project that deals with countering disinformation and the circulation of fake news. It has been a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) since 2021.
FactCheck is a public service platform that monitors a select sample of Sri Lankan media (Sinhala, Tamil, and English) to identify and fact-check statements attributed to high-level decision makers in public office on subjects of public interest. The FactCheck.lk platform is run by Verité Research.
FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. The goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding. They are a non-partisan, non-profit consumer advocate organisation for voters.
FactChecker.in is India’s first dedicated Fact Check initiative. Since early 2013, they are scrutinizing and researching for veracity and context, statements made by individuals in public life. FactChecker.in is an initiative of The Spending & Policy Research Foundation which also runs www.indiaspend.org, India’s first data journalism initiative. They are located in Lower Parel in Mumbai and are registered as a Charitable Trust with the Charity Commissioner, Mumbai.
FactRakers is a Philippines-based fact-checking initiative of journalism majors at the University of the Philippines-Diliman working under the supervision of Associate Professor Yvonne T. Chua of the University of the Philippines’ Journalism Department.
FactStream was developed as part of the Tech & Check Cooperative, a project of the Duke University Reporters’ Lab, which uses automation to help fact-checkers do their work and broaden the audience for this important journalism. It brings together the work of the three largest U.S. fact-checking organizations — The Washington Post, PolitiFact and FactCheck.org.
Faktabaari is a Finnish fact-checking and digital information literacy service. Since 2014, it has regularly contributed to fact-based information circulation with innovative projects and fact-checks, notably to all national and European Parliamentary election debates with academically acclaimed quality and transparency standards.
Faktograf is a non-profit organization focusing on fact-checking and holding politicians as well as public figures in Croatia accountable.Faktograf.hr is the first Croatian media specialized in fact-checking, i.e. verification of the factual accuracy of claims in the public space. Faktograf.hr is a nonprofit medium. They are a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), an international network of organizations dedicated to fact-checking, the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), a European network of fact-checking organizations and one of the founders of the SEE Check network of organizations dedicated to fact-checking in Southeast Europe. Faktograf.hr also deals with countering misinformation in the public space, and has been part of Meta’s Third Party Fact Checking program since April 2019
Fast Check CL verifies content and speeches of people and representatives of public and private life, on multiple platforms. In addition, they conduct investigative and data journalism. They are an indeoendent, Chielean fact-checking organisation. It is owned by Tlön Communicaciones SpA.
The Forum is an international entity founded by 11 independent organizations from different backgrounds and regions with the goal of providing democratic safeguards to the global communication and information space.
Full Facts is a team of independent fact checkers and campaigners who find, expose and counter the harm bad information does. Thery are registered as a charity in England and Wales.
The Fundação Getúlio Vargas is a foundation that was founded with the objective of preparing qualified personnel for public and private administration in Brazil. It maintains several programs on disinformation, e.g. the project Digitalization and Democracy in Brazil.
Karisma is a civil society organization that seeks to protect and promote human rights and social justice in the design and use of digital technologies. Founded in 2003, Karisma is positioned today as one of the main Latin American civil society organizations working on the promotion of human rights in the digital world.
Fundación Multitudes was born under the auspices of the Lobby Law in Chile as an effective tool to promote the impact of civil society in decision-making processes. Its mission is to bring citizens closer to public institutions, providing them with tools for effective advocacy and accountability, thus expanding the spaces for citizen participation in decision-making.
The Gender Tech Initiative Uganda (GTI) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to bridging the digital gender gap by empowering women and girls with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in the digital world.
The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. As part of their counter-disinformation work, GMF develops monitoring tools, such as the Hamilton 2.0 dashboard—a first-of-its-kind tool that tracks online information sources affiliated with Chinese, Iranian, and Russian government officials and state media. This dashboard and other tools serve as go-to resources for journalists and researchers monitoring the spread of state-backed messaging.
Gerulata is a tech company on a mission to provide tools for fighting disinformation and hostile propaganda. It focuses on providing AI-powered tools that empower human analysts and provide them with the ability to make informed decisions. The tools allow for the monitoring and analysis of online activity, as well as the detection and tracking of disinformation and hostile propaganda campaigns.
The Global Coalition for Tech Justice is a global movement challenging the global equity crisis at the centre of tech accountability, whereby social media companies headquartered in the global north – and the regulators responsible for them – have been negligent when it comes to dealing with their impacts everywhere and particularly in the global majority. The Global Coalition for Tech Justice brings together activists, civil society, journalists, academics, experts and concerned citizens. In 2024, they will direct all their attention to the 65+ elections taking place around the world.
The Global Digital Inclusion Partnership is a coalition of public, private, and civil society organizations working to bring internet connectivity to the global majority and ensure everyone is meaningfully connected by 2030. GDIP advances digital opportunities to empower and support people’s lives and agency, leading to inclusive digital societies.
Disinformation has become a business. Today’s internet business models reward engagement above all else. These models monetise attention without considering the quality of the content garnering that attention, or the harm that may result. There is a robust and growing community of industry, policy, and civil society advocates pressing for reform of this ecosystem, they all need data to inform their actions. The Global Disinformation Index was born out of this need for data, specifically the need for transparent, independent neutral disinformation risk ratings across the open web. GDI’s founders recognised early on that in order to disrupt the business model of disinformation, commercial companies, researchers and policymakers alike need access to independent ratings of news sites’ disinformation risk. The Dynamic Exclusion List contains the worst offending websites and apps across multiple countries and languages and is continually updated to capture new disinformation sources and narratives. Ad tech companies and platforms can license GDI data to defund and downrank these worst offenders, thus disrupting the ad-funded disinformation business model.
When founded in 1993, Global Witness were pioneers in seeing the link between natural resources, conflict and corruption. For over 25 years, they have investigated and exposed environmental and human rights abuses in the oil, gas, mining, and timber sectors, and tracked ill-gotten money and influence through the global financial and political system. Today, they continue to focus on abusive actors, misuse of power and financial flows, but have turned their focus on some of the most urgent issues facing humanity: the climate emergency and attacks on civic space, including with a view to countering mis- and disinformation.
GO VIRAL! is a 5-minute game that helps protect people against COVID-19 misinformation. Users will learn about some of the most common strategies used to spread false and misleading information about the virus. Understanding these tricks allows people to resist them the next time you come across them online.
Graphika is a network analysis company. Its platform leverages AI to create large-scale explorable maps of social media landscapes. Graphika provides in-depth analysis and generates insights into actors and narratives on social media to help clients and partners understand complex online networks and take decisive action.
HaqCheck is an independent and non-partisan initiative that collaborates with media outlets to monitor and fact-check media content in English and four local languages (Amharic, Afaan Oromo, Tigrigna, and Somali). It is an inititiatie launched by Informa Africa to counter disinfirmation.
HateAid is a non-profit orgnization providing advice and support to those affected by online hate speech and hate comments. They also support legal action and counselling.
Hoaxy is a web-based tool that visualizes the spread of articles online. Hoaxy searches for claims and fact-checking going back to 2016. It tracks the sharing of links to stories from low-credibility sources and independent fact-checking organizations. It also calculates a bot score, which is a measure of the likely level of automation. It is developed by the Indiana University and part of the Observatory on Social Media.
The Deutsche Welle Innovation (DW Innovation) team for the KID2 project has gathered its verification experience and insights from diverse sources in an interactive knowledge graph. This interactive knowledge graph has been created by DW innovation and is co-funded by the German Secretary of State for Culture and the Media (BKM) via the KID2 Project (Künstliche Intelligenz gegen Desinformation #2).
The Igarapé Institute is an independent think and do tank focused on the areas of public, climate and digital security and its consequences for democracy. Its objective is to propose solutions and partnerships for global challenges through research, new technologies, communication and influence on public policies. They are a non-profit, independent and non-partisan institution, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro. Their operation, however, transcends local, national and regional boundaries. The Igarapé Institute has professionals in cities in all regions of Brazil and in Canada, Colombia, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Inform Africa is working in the field of fact-checking, digital rights, media literacy, media training, media research, and media technology development and support working hand in hand with Addis Zeybe and other local media houses in Ethiopia by creating a local media technology development and research hub.
The Information Futures Lab investigates the harms of misinformation, data deficits, outdated communications practices and other barriers to meeting the information needs of communities. It brings together researchers and practitioners across fields to co-design, implement and evaluate solutions, one pilot at a time.
ISS is Africa’s leading multidisciplinary human security organisation, with a unique operational model that combines research, policy analysis, technical assistance and training. Its work covers African futures, transnational crimes, climate change, migration, maritime security and development, peacekeeping, peacebuilding, crime prevention and criminal justice, and the analysis of conflict and governance. ISS provide timely and credible analysis, practical training and technical assistance to governments and civil society.
The Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) is a think tank that specializes in research and policy advice on hate, extremism, and disinformation. They’ve bulit a comprehensive monitoring tool in-house that underpins their insights into Telegram, X, Facebook, and others.
ICS is an academic, non-profit institution and research organization in the field of journalism and media studies, public relations and corporate communications. It regularly publishes reports on political harmful narratives online.
ICFJ’s global network is made up of tens of thousands of journalists who are making a difference through their work. One disinformation-focused project is called African Academy for Open Source Investigation, which aims to build the capacity of investigative media and watchdog NGOs in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal. The project benefits from in-country forensic analysts and trainers from Code for Africa’s (CfA) CivicSignal AI/machine-learning team, iLAB forensic research team, and PesaCheck fact-checking team, besides the technical support from the Cardiff University Crime and Security Research Institute (CSRI) in the U.K.
The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter was launched in 2015 to bring together the growing community of fact-checkers around the world and advocates of factual information in the global fight against misinformation. We enable fact-checkers through networking, capacity building and collaboration. IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to more than 100 organizations worldwide through advocacy, training and global events. Our team monitors trends in the fact-checking field to offer resources to fact-checkers, contribute to public discourse and provide support for new projects and initiatives that advance accountability in journalism.
iVerify is an automated fact-checking tool under the Liberia Electoral Support Project that is managed by the local journalists network Local Voices Liberia.
iWatch Africa is a non-governmental media and policy organisation with considerable national repute and significance. It has carved a niche in Ghana’s policy and journalism environment for putting out objective, fact-based and independent assessment on many issues. iWatch Africa tracks digital rights in Africa, trans-national organised crime, human rights abuse, climate change and ocean conservation and overall government performance, notably in Ghana. They aim to encourage citizen particioation in the governance process in Africa.
JamiiForums advocates and promotes Civil and Digital Rights, Social Justice, Accountability, Democracy and Good Governance. It features a community-driven fact checking forum with significant reach, called Jamii Check.
Video campaign specifically directed at Germany with short videos to help prebunk contentious content. It directs attention towards typical tactics of manipulation, such as decontextualisation of video and text to mislead the audience. Jigsaw is a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google) and operates as a dedicated reseach arm.
JOMCHECK alliance is the first academe-media-civil society alliance in Malaysia to mitigate the harm of misinformation on democracy. It builds on a partnership model that brings together various stakeholders to work towards fact-checking, combatting mis- and disinformation and disseminating fact-checks to the public.
The Knight Foundation is an American non-profit foundation that provides grants for journalism, communities, and the arts, focused on protecting freedom of expression and the First Amendment to the Consitution of the USA.
Konspiratori.sk is a public database of websites that spread dubious, deceptive, fraudulent, conspiratorial, or propaganda content. Kosnpiratori.sk assists users, companies and brands in preventing their ads appearing on websites that could damage their reputation.
The Hirondelle Foundation is a Swiss non-profit organization founded in 1995 that provides people in crisis situations with information that enables them to act in their daily lives and as citizens. Activities are divided into 3 main areas: The production and dissemination of information and dialogue programs using tools best adapted to the audience we want to reach (radio, TV, websites, social networks, mobile applications, etc.); Supporting media and partners through training and assistance in the areas of editing, management and structure to enable them to work in a more sustainable way; Analyzing the impact of programs and research contributions on information and media.
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. Originally started as a site about what was currently trending on the internet in general (and in some cases if it was actually true) they gradually shifted into full time fact checking ever since the primaries of the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. Since February 2019 they are an active part of Facebook’s partnership with third party fact checkers and since 2020 they provide fact checking related advice and services to ByteDance, the company running TikTok.
Learn to Discern approach builds emotional control and cognitive reflection, critical and analytical thinking, empathy, and other mental habits to overcome intuitive yet addictive and highly manipulative features of today’s informational ecosystem. It builds technical skills such as cross-checking information and verification techniques. It also provides techniques for overcoming social incentives for negative information engagement, such as the desire for validation or belonging. The project is developed by IREX, a non-profit founded in 1968.
LEXOTA, short for “Laws on Expression Online: Tracker and Analysis”, provides detailed analysis on laws and government actions on disinformation across Sub-Saharan Africa, to inform and strengthen the work of human rights defenders, researchers and policy-makers. Their map allows regular tracking of speech and disinformation laws, law enforcement and actions of government pressure.
Lie Detectors is a non-profit organization that helps children and adolescents better recognize and assess manipulative information that is increasingly filling their Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, and WhatsApp accounts. They run classroom sessions in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland and Switzerland. Teacher training workshops are available internationally on request, provided in-person and remotely.
Linterna Verde is an independent non-profit organization that investigates how public opinion is constructed in social networks. It analyzes data from online publications and interactions to draw attention to specific risks faced by civil society organizations in these digital spaces.
LIRNEasia is a Colombo-based think-tank. It conducts policy research on the digital sector and other areas such as labour, education, agriculture, gender and disability. Its mission is: Catalyzing policy change and solutions through research to improve the lives of people in the Asia and Pacific using knowledge, information and technology. It documents regional good practices. It then disseminates independent, actionable knowledge, to policy makers, regulators, service providers and the media. It helps train policy intellectuals and, on request, provide short-term advisory assistance. It has, on many occasions, contributed towards the removal of barriers to access to digital technology for the people of Asia.
Logically is a tech company that develops advanced AI to fight misinformation at scale using expert fact checkers, OSINT investigators and data science. Ist aim is to provide analyses of online discourse at speed and at scale.
More than a fact-checking agency, Lupa is a platform to combat disinformation through fact-checking and media education. They are a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN).
Mafindo is an Indonesian non-profit focused on combating online mis- and disinformation. Mafindo has built offensive and defensive anti-hoax capabilities through fact-checking activities, a machine-assisted hoax-busting mechanism, multi-channel counter-propaganda and the production of anti-hoax education materials.
Mala Espina Check is a project by Capacitaciones y Comunicaciones Santomé SpA. The goal is to contribute to Chilean citizens in the fight against misinformation. They provide fact-checking trainings and verification methodologies.
Maldita.es is a Spanish media outlet established as a non-profit foundation dedicated to fact checking (Maldito Bulo). Its purpose is to provide citizens with “tools so that they do not slip it”. It has different branches dedicated to monitoring political discourse and all that information that circulates through the network.
Mandiant is a cybersecurity firm, specialised in threat intelligency. The Mandiant Advantage SaaS platform is part of Google Cloud, which now also manages all their legal and compliance tasks.
Manipulatori.cz is a fact-checking platform created in 2015. It focuses on identifying and debunking hoaxes. In 2023, Manipulatori was formally merged with Fakticke, a sister-website focused on fact-checking.
Media Monitoring Africa (MMA) has the goal to promote ethical and fair journalism that supports human rights and to encourage a culture where media and the powerful respect human rights while promoting democracy, and the ideals of a just and fair society. MMA employs technology, social media, and data tools to conduct successful media strategies for change. They aim to develop critical media culture in South Africa and across the African continent. One of their counter-disinformation projects is called Know News.
The Media Sabak Foundation is hosting programs for raising awareness for the relevance of media literacy in Kyrgyzstan. Their website hosts a great amount of useful information, animated video tutorials, practical tasks, tests and books on media and information literacy.
MediaWise teaches people digital media literacy and fact-checking skills to spot misinformation and disinformation, with initiatives specifically designed to engage Gen Z, college students and older Americans. This work is supported by a Teen Fact-Checking Network, a virtual newsroom made uo of middle and high schoolers. MediaWise’s innovative, digital-first program works constantly to address the ever-changing landscape of misinformation across the internet. MediaWise is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of The Poynter Institute.
Mimikama is an international information center and association dedicated to educating about internet fraud, misinformation, computer security, and promoting media literacy. It also serves as an observatory for disinformation and social media analysis.
The MisinformationCombat Alliance (MCA) is a cross industry collaborative effort set up with the objective of combatting and limiting the spread of misinformation through targeted interventions and activities.
The Mozilla Foundation is a global nonprofit organization which works to ensure the internet is a global public resource that must remain open and accessible to all. Mozilla’s YouTube Regrets Campaign invited users to donate their data to allow for the monitoring of YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. Their data-driven research and advocacy allowed to shed a light on harmful platform dynamics, leading to a dedicated campaign on platform design and content moderation. Mozilla’s work is further amplified by technical solutions such as the RegretsReporter extension, which allows users to block harmful recommendations.
MyGoPen is set up a s a web page aimed at clarifying rumors. The idea of MyGoPen is to help the elders or friends with information gaps, and show them that there is a convenient place for verification. Their goal is to create a cleaner network environment in the future, in hopes of cultivating an attitude of being vigilant to verify information, rather than sharing information without double-checking.
Namibia Fact Check is an impartial initiative that aims to verify public statements and media reports. Claims will be fact checked for accuracy using credible data and information. Namibia Fact Check is a project of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and is financially supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF).
NewsGuard Technologies is a rating system for news and information websites. It is accessible via browser extensions and mobile apps and examines the influences of generative AI, while also developing fingerprinting and other AI solutions as well as repositories for reliable ad placements.
The News Literacy Project, a non-partisan education non-profit, is building a national movement to advance the practice of news literacy throughout American society, creating better informed, more engaged and more empowered individuals — and ultimately a stronger democracy.
OBSERVACOM is a non-profit, professional and independent regional think tank specializing in regulation and public policies related to the media, telecommunications, the Internet and freedom of expression. OBSERVACOM approaches these issues from a rights-based perspective and prioritizes aspects related to access, diversity and pluralism.
Within the framework of the Observatory’s activities, the aim is to investigate and disseminate information about disinformation and its risks to narratives shared within communities. For this reason, the work focuses on generating knowledge about false information and participate in outreach projects to raise awareness among the population about its risks and how to prevent them.
ODIL, a francophone platform for initiatives to combat disinformation in the French-speaking world in order to bring them more visibility on a global scale. They are focused on four areas: fact-checking, public policy, media literacy, research.
The Open Society Foundations are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. Over the years, they have given out grants of around 21 billion USD to groups and individuals in over 100 countries across the world.
OSINT FOR UKRAINE is an independent (non-profit) initiative of young professionals dedicated to use Open Source Intelligence to investigate International crimes committed in Ukraine, Influence and Disinformation operations in Europe, and provide basic and advanced OSINT courses and training.
Pagella Politica is an editorial project born in 2012 that deals with fact-checking and analysis of current political events. Their mission is to help readers understand what drives the dynamics of politics, based on numbers and facts. They joined the IFCN in 2017. In April 2020, they launched the Facta.news debunking project, which deals with non-political disinformation.Pagella Politica is a newspaper registered with the Court of Milan, no. 55 of 8 March 2021.
PesaCheck is Africa’s largest indigenous fact-checking organisation, debunking misleading claims and deciphering the often confusing numbers quoted by public figures in 15 African countries. PesaCheck is a pioneering verification initiative that is kickstarting fact-checking across Africa. Initially focused on verifying the financial and other statistical numbers quoted by public figures in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, PesaCheck is now Africa’s largest with full-time staff in 15 countries in both east and west Africa, as well as across the Sahel. PesaCheck fact-checks in two international languages (English and French), as well as major African languages such as Kiswahili and Amharic.
The Philippine Fact-Checker Incubator (PFCI) was established by Internews ahead of the 2022 Philippine elections. The PFCI aims to identify new fact-checking organizations, which received a comprehensive support package that includes training, technical and financial support, mentorship, and guidance following global fact-checking standards like those of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) Code of Principles.
Fakt oder Fake was developed and launched by the Representation of the European Commission in Germany. The simulation game “Fact or Fake” builds on a cooperation with the agency planpolitik, and includes game modules that can be used individually or on one another in lessons or at events on the subject of disinformation. The aim is to sensitize secondary school students and young people to the distinction between facts and fakenews in a playful way.
Fact-checking journalism is the heart of PolitiFact. The core principles are independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing. The ultimate goal is to provide citizens with information they need to govern themselves in a democracy, they are focused on the United States of America.
The goal of the project PREVENT is to enable government actors, public offices, authorities and institutions to identify and counteract intentional manipulation of the public’s opinion. The tool is supposed to empower governmental agencies to protect the public form harmful interference.
PROTEGE QV is a Cameroonian non-governmental organisation created in 1995. It aims to promote individual and collective initiatives to promote rural development, protect the environment and improve the well-being of communities. It places a strong focus on the implementation of Internet and Communication Technologies (ICT).
Desconfío is all about rebuilding trust. The project aims to develop full-day events to involve local actors and build capacity in the fight against Fake News; devising solutions and tools that contribute to stopping the advance of fake news; maintaining updated information on initiatives being developed in different continents as well as investigating the characteristics and implications of the Fake News phenomenon.
Rappler is a Filipino online news website based in Pasig, Metro Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists as well as technopreneurs. It is widely known for its investigative reporting on current government affairs, international political developments, and technologies. Rappler has a mixed financing model and is in the business of data and credible storytelling, services that they also extend to brand partners. Through the use of data, technology, and content, they aim to shape innovative and native advertising that aims to educate, empower, and inform the audience about latest trends and branded topics that are worth their time and attention. They recently won an award for AI-powered joinralistic rigour.
Real411 provides a platform for the public to report digital harms including disinformation. This ensures that online content is assessed and addressed in an independent, open, transparent and accountable manner within the laws and constitutional rights. Special attention is given to topics such as COVID-19 and during Election periods to complaints about elections. It is rund by the Media Monitoring Africa (MMA), which was established in 1993 in Johannesburg, South Africa and, since then, has evolved from a pure monitoring-based project to an innovative organisation which implements successful media strategies for change. MMA uses technology, social media and data tools to make their work more efficient and effective.
Reset.tech is an initiative engaged in programmatic work on technology and democracy and provides funding and support for tech initiatives across the globe. They provide grants and contracts while working alongside partners with a shared policy, technology, and advocacy agenda in countries with immediate opportunities for change. Their goal is to stop Big Tech companies from profiting off public harm by resetting the rules for online media.
The RESIST toolkit will help support governments and communicators to effectively reduce the impact of mis- and disinformation through strategic communications. RESIST stands for Recognise mis- and disinformation, Early warning, Situational insight, Impact analysis, Strategic communication, Tracking effectiveness. The framework has been written by the UK Government with other like-minded organisations in mind, a first version was published in 2018, this version has been updated to reflect recent developments such as the pandemic.
Retraction Watch is a blog that reports on retractions of scientific papers and on related topics. The blog was launched in August 2010 and is produced by science writers Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus. Its parent organization is the Center for Scientific Integrity.
Roundcheck is an independent youth-led fact-checking platform. Roundcheck launches campaigns and projects aimed at providing solutions to misinformation and disinformation within society, especially among the young people.
RumorGuard helps people learn how to recognize misinformation and stop it in its tracks. Each fact-checked viral rumor contains concrete tips to help you build peoples’ news literacy foundation and confidently evaluate claims online. RumorGuard is a News Literacy Project.
Sleeping Giants’ aim is to economically derail websites, pages and profiles that propagate disinformation, hate speech, intolerance and extremism. The Brazilian organisation follows the US community founded in 2016. but acts an independent legal entity. In 2024, its focus will be on elections and platform regulation.
Snopes is an online fact-checking site that supports researchers and journalists with political fact checks. Started in 1994, focusing on urban legends, hoaxes, and folklore.
Soch Fact Check is a team of non-partisan fact checkers investigating disinformation and committed to responsible journalism. Soch Fact Check is Pakistan’s only IFCN signatory.
Sourcer is a start-up focused on helping people read news and regain trust in online information. Their browser extension helps users to develop a broader perspective, gather information from credible sources with over 500 news sites participating in their credibility score.
South Asia Check is a fact-checking organisation with a focus on Nepal and occasional coverage of South Asia. The aim is to promote transparency and accountability in politics and media. The initiative was launched by non-profit Panos South Asia.
SPARTA is an interdisciplinary research project based at University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. SPARTA unites researchers from different disciplines and is building an infrastructure based on state-of-the-art hardware and the latest approaches in Natural Language Processing (NLP). This allows for large-scaleand real-time analysis of Twitter data.
Stiftung Neue Verantwortung is a non-profit think tank for the current political and social issues of new technologies. Their research aims to inform policy debates, mostly at the German as well as the European level. They combine data science research with political analyses to identify levers for digital policies.
The Stimson Center is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that analyzes issues related to global peace. It also provides consulting for US and international institutions and publishes articles for the general public. While not specialised on disinformation, they occassionally publish issue briefs related to misinformation during conflict or crises.
StopFake opposes the spread of disinformation by Russia, focusing on information disseminated on social media, including through the use of digital tools. The fact-checking website is run by the non-governmental organisation “Media Reform Center”, an educational platform founded by the Mohyla School of Journalism with the aim of introducing high standards of journalism education in Ukraine, increasing the level of media literacy, informing about the dangers of propaganda and the dissemination of false information (fakes) in the media.
The Swedish Psychological Defence Agency focuses on preventive defence and resilient democratic discourse. The main mission of the agency is to lead the coordination and development of Sweden’s psychological defence in collaboration with public authorities and other stakeholders in society. The Agency offers support to government agencies, municipalities, regions, the business sector, and organisations, and strengthens the resilience of our population.
Taiwan FactCheck Foundation(TFC) is a non-profit, non-government organization jointly established by the Association for Quality Journalism and Taiwan Media Watch Foundation in April 2018. In December 2020, TFC is legally registered as an independent foundation, Taiwan FactCheck Foundation. TFC’s mission is to fact-check claims related to public interest issues to promote reliable information, digital literacy, and improve the information ecology in Taiwan.
Textgain was founded in 2015 as a spin-off of the University of Antwerp. Textgain empowers organizations working to make a genuine difference for society by developing trustworthy, transparent and explainable human-centered AI solutions that read and understand large amounts of texts. One of their projects in the European Observatory of Online Hate that monitores hate speech in all 24 EU languages, creating a research database.
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria
Headquarter
South Africa
Level of Engagement
Research & Analysis
Launch Date
1986
Stakeholder group
Civil Society and Researchers
Regional Focus
Africa
Methodology
Other
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, is an university-based institution combining academic excellence and effective activism to advance human rights, through education, research and advocacy.
ClaimReview is a tagging system that fact-checkers can use to identify articles for search engines and social media platforms such as Google Search, Google News, Bing, Facebook and YouTube. It was deveöpüed by the Duke Reporters’ Lab.
The Continent is a weekly newspaper produced by African reporters, photographers, illustrators and editors. It is designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp (and other social messaging platforms), and has become the continent’s most widely distributed newspaper.
The Factual is a mobile app and browser extension that ranks news content on a 0-100 scale to measure its quality. It is mainly automated and since 2022 has been part of Yahoo! Inc.. The tool rates news quality based on diversity of sources, author expertise, language used, etc. Itl is an algorithm that rates 10,000+ news articles daily for how informative they are.
The Stage Media (TSM) is Liberia’s first fact-checking media institution with the overarching vision of mitigating misinformation and disinformation. Since its establishment in 2020, The Stage Media – Liberia fact-checks the statements of politicians, economists, business persons, public figures, the media, and viral content on social networks and classify them from “true” to “false” according to their consistency with the facts and data to which they refer.
TITAN’s new co-designed, AI-based, Citizen Coaching approach empowers people to arrive at their own conclusions about the factual correctness or reliability of an online statement in a manner comparable to an experienced investigator. The results help to stop the unintentional sharing and spread of false or misleading information.
TRi Fact offers fact-checking training, verification, research services and consulting with a focus on identifying and communicating facts, it is the commercial arm of Africa Check.
Troll Factory is a mobile game that shows first-hand how information operations work on social media. The goal of the game is to illustrate how fake news, emotive content and bot armies are utilized to affect moods, opinions and decision-making. The game uses examples of authentic social media content.
TrollWall is a community moderation solution designed to monitor and protect multiple social media platforms, their services automate content moderation decisions through plugins and/or overlays. They are specialised in trolling and hate speech.
A livestreaming on-site experience and activist game jam assembling the European gaming community to take a stand for democracy. Hoping to activate many of Europe’s 350 million gamers to the fight against “fake news”, the pilot event will take place in May 2024 in Barcelona. Participants will be working simultaneously in a three day game jam to develop video games and interactive proposals centered around fake news.The series is organised by European Capital of Democracy.
Truthmeter is a fact-checking initiative supported and published by the Metamorphosis Foundation. The goal is to hold political parties accountable and monitor the political process in the country.
VERA Files is a nonstock, nonprofit independent media organization. Founded in March 2008, it is published by veteran Filipino journalists taking a deeper look into current Philippine issues.
The vera.ai project and its partners aim to develop and build trustworthy AI solutions to fight against disinformation. The expected solutions will deal with different content types (audio, video, images, and text) and do so across a variety of languages. They will mostly be open and accessible to and usable by anyone. The vera.ai team will also continue and further enhance work that has been started in the “forerunner project” WeVerify.
Verificado is a fact-checking organisation based on investigative journalism and data verification. They also work with different statistical, documentary and specialized sources that allow, through an established methodology, to confirm, verify or deny said and affirmations, detect errors, inaccuracies and lies, both of politicians, as well as public figures and media.
VIGINUM is the French State’s technical and operational service in charge of vigilance and protection against foreign digital interference. It is attached to the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN).
Vishvas News is an information fact-check and verification portal that is committed to debunking fake news and misinformation within India and across in many languages, including in Hindi, English and 10 additional languages.
Watchdog is an open-source research collective consisting of a multidisciplinary team of journalists, researchers and software engineers. Watchdog combats misinformation, investigates matters of public welfare, and builds software tools.
An open source platform aiming to engage communities and citizen journalists alongside newsroom and freelance journalists for collaborative, decentralised content verification, tracking, and debunking. The WeVerify project aims to develop intelligent human-in-the-loop content verification and disinformation analysis methods and tools. Social media and web content will be analysed and contextualised within the broader online ecosystem, in order to expose fabricated content, through cross-modal content verification, social network analysis, micro-targeted debunking and a blockchain-based public database of known fakes. It received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020. while the project was finalised, the tool remains available
Who Targets Me are a small group of activists creating and managing a crowdsourced global database of political adverts placed on social media, they deploy a crowdsorucing approach and allow for data collection via a browser extension.
You VS the Internet is an educational tool/game that seeks to help people tell truth from fiction when it comes to information online. Their aim with is to increase public knowledge about misinformation. The content in the tool was created in collaboration with Code for Africa (CfA) and the Centre for Analytics and Behavioural Change (CABC) and is supported by sourcing from a variety of verified sources. It was created and shared by Digital Public Square, a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to rethinking and redesigning the way technology is used to support communities.
Zaina Foundation is a private, autonomous, voluntary, non-governmental, non-profit sharing Organization which was founded in 2017 and registered under NGO’s Act of 2002 with the aim of promoting digital rights in Tanzania.
Zentrum Liberale Moderne stands for the defense and renewal of liberal democracy, for the dawn of ecological modernity, and for in-depth expertise on Eastern Europe. It serves as a political think tank, a debate platform and a rallying point for free spirits of various kinds. They pay particular attention to right-wing extremist narratives.
ZimFact is Zimbabwe’s first national, independent and non-partisan fact-checking platform. The main focus is on pronouncements by public officials, media reports as well as any user generated content that draws widespread public attention and, therefore, has real or potential impact on communities.
Many of the initiatives listed here are working on a variety of projects. To facilitate systematic classification, we have chosen a primary methodological approach (debunking, demonitarization, deplatforming, fact-checking, monitoring, prebunking, other), which illustrates the work particularly well.
In addition, we have categorized each project according to its “level of engagement”, by which we mean the respective objective or the hoped-for impact. Our categorization has six levels: Regulation & Policy; Prevention & Education; Communication & Media; Platform Design & Content Management; Support & Resources; Research & Analysis. This means, for example, that if an advocacy organization aims to change the law, then this is captured as “Regulation / Policy”; if an advocacy organization works on campaigns around narratives and media responsibility, then this falls under “Communication & Media”. Another example: If a research institute works on media literacy, this is assigned to “Prevention & Education”; if the research institute is concerned with understanding and analyzing disinformation trends, this falls under “Research & Analysis”.
Under regional focus, we include the respective target group of the project
