United against disinformationEuropean fact-checking platform GADMO launched

The spread of disinformation on the Internet is a global phenomenon. It has gained in importance especially since the Corona pandemic and the war of aggression on Ukraine. Used in a targeted manner, lies and misinformation can potentially divide societies. Especially in the context of elections, crises and wars. This poses major challenges to democracies. When people no longer know what is true or false, it can be dangerous. It can lead to great uncertainty and disorientation and weaken social cohesion.

GADMO has been launched to take coordinated action against the spread of such content. GADMO is intended to serve as a central platform for fact-checking throughout the German-speaking world. Partners of the initiative want to bundle the findings of their fact-checking editorial offices in one central place.

With the help of a central archive,GADMO wants to give the public better access to fact-checked information. Information and education programs will equip citizens and media professionals to deal with disinformation. In addition, research collaborations will be used to further analyze how disinformation functions and works. These findings can help identify appropriate measures to combat dis information. In addition, GADMO will examine whether digital platforms and social networks are doing enough in the fight against disinformation.

Partners* include the Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa), Agence France Press (AFP) and Austria Presse Agentur (APA), as well as the independent research network Correctiv. The work of the research organizations is also accompanied scientifically. On the one hand by the Institute of Journalism (coordinator GADMO) and the Faculty of Statistics of the TU Dortmund University as well as by the Austrian Institute Of Technology. The Athens Technology Center is the technical partner.