Brussels Allocates €5 Million for Funding Initiatives Combating Misinformation
In a recent move, the community executive has unveiled a series of initiatives to tackle the growing issue of disinformation across Europe. A whopping 5 million euros are allocated for projects to combat malicious information manipulation campaigns and evaluate the impact of digital misinformation among EU citizens.
The mission doesn't just stop there, as the European Commission intends to propose solutions to increase social resilience. This fight against misinformation will be bolstered by a generous 1.6 million euros, earmarked for projects that boost the reach of independent fact-checking organizations.
Are you part of civil society, a university, or a research center? If so, you have until June 16 to apply for these funds!
The successful projects will then collaborate with the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), an organization that has been at the forefront of monitoring and combating disinformation.
Simultaneously, the European Commission has announced a 13.5 million euro program to support independent journalism, aiming to bolster the production of journalistic pieces related to the community bloc. This initiative also places a high priority on multilingual support, ensuring content is available in the greatest number of languages of the Member States.
The programs aim to fund audiovisual media that focus on European issues and proposals to improve the pluralism of social communication organs in certain countries of the political-economic bloc.
In a broader context, the European Commission has launched several key initiatives to combat disinformation and strengthen independent journalism. These initiatives include creating a European Network of Fact-Checkers, expanding the capabilities of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), and implementing legal frameworks and standards such as the Digital Services Act (DSA), the Journalism Trust Initiative, and the Political Advertising Regulation.
These initiatives prioritize the creation of protection schemes for fact-checkers against harassment, a cross-border repository of fact-checks, and emergency response capacity for disinformation crises. They also focus on verification units, youth-targeted media literacy content, and national security disinformation monitoring within Public Service Media (PSM) organizations.
- The European Commission has allocated a significant 5 million euros for projects that combat disinformation, a move that follows the community executive's latest efforts to address the growing issue of malicious information manipulation campaigns across the EU.
- In addition to that, 1.6 million euros have been earmarked for projects that boost the reach of independent fact-checking organizations, as part of the broader mission to increase social resilience against disinformation.
- Civil society, universities, and research centers have until June 16 to apply for these funds, with successful projects to collaborate with the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) in the fight against disinformation.
- Alongside these initiatives, the European Commission has announced a 13.5 million euro program to support independent journalism, aiming to bolster the production of journalistic pieces related to the EU and to provide multilingual support for content.
