• Priority Area Boosting Fact-checking Activities in Europe
• Funding Round / Action Types 10th Funding Round – Urgent Actions
• Year 2025
• Country Spain
• Project Status Ongoing

AC/DC proposes to design, test and roll out a new methodology to respond to the urgent onset of climate disinformation narratives based on the theory of “argument checking”. This approach—which has already garnered attention in the academic world—is conceived as an extension of fact-checking that applies insights from argumentation theory to combat against mis-/disinformation with the added-value of delivering additional information and skills that promotes citizens’ rhetorical literacy and critical thinking skills, encouraging an improved assessment of the arguments, not just individual data and claims, encountered in media spaces.

Led by the Spanish non-profit Foundation and fact-checking organisation Maldita.es (MAL), in partnership with the University of Navarra (UNAV), AC/DC will design, test and deploy practical formats that embed argument-checking within climate fact-checks. Maldita.es’ community of 3,000+ verified experts will validate and refine these formats through iterative prototypes focused on climate-related disinformation, one of today’s most urgent infodemics. These will be evaluated through an academic perception study by UNAV, measuring their impact on users’ ability to resist manipulation.

This tested methodology will be integrated into Maldita.es’ multiformat editorial output, strengthening audience resilience to climate disinformation. Beyond Spain, the project will promote the uptake of argument checking across European fact-checking communities, encouraging a shift from reactive correction to proactive public empowerment. By enabling users to identify flawed arguments, not just false facts, AC/DC aims to multiply the long-term impact of fact-checking in Europe’s battle against climate disinformation.