Following the invasion, disinformation and propaganda perpetrated by Russia intensified dramatically. The overflow of disinformation narratives discrediting Ukraine’s right to freedom and statehood increasingly targets international audiences. The EU has recognised Russian disinformation as one of the key challenges of our time.
In response to these challenges Google News Initiative and StopFake launch a project to share Ukraine’s fact-checking experience to contribute capacity building of fact-checkers in countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
Trainings developed by StopFake team in cooperation with local partners will be conducted in countries in the Central and Eastern Europe region: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Albania, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro.
StopFake fact-checkers will develop teaching curriculum and teach the course for three main target audiences in the region – journalists, fact-checkers, journalism educators and students. It will deepen their practical knowledge of disinformation, its impact on journalism and effective ways of combating it.
The main tasks of the project are:
- to disseminate knowledge about threats and modern methods of countering
- to strengthen resilience
- to build a regional network of fact-checkers and professionals in the fight against disinformation
StopFake is a leader in the fight against disinformation in Ukraine. This project has established itself as one of the most successful and effective in the field of information threats analysis. Freedom House described it as a “gold standard” in exposing fake news, and said that its work has become “a model in other Central and Eastern European countries.”
Google News Initiative was launched in 2018 to scale work with journalists, publishers, and industry leaders in order to help build a resilient future for news around the globe.
Daniel Rzasa, Google News Lab Lead for Central & Eastern Europe says: “We are thrilled to partner with StopFake, a leading Ukrainian fact-checking organization, and support them in sharing their experience with journalists, academics and other fact-checkers based in countries especially vulnerable to organized disinformation campaigns. I hope this programme will strengthen disinformation efforts in the whole Central and Eastern Europe”.
