DEM-Debate
- Priority Area Supporting Research into Media, Disinformation and Information Literacy Across Europe
- Year 2024, 2025, 2026
- Country Belgium, Netherlands, Spain
- Project Status Ongoing
Research has examined the role of centralised, commercial Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) in disseminating disinformation during elections. However, it has not explored how non-commercial platforms with a community-governed model address this phenomenon, or whether they offer transferable practices to promote a transparent and resilient information ecosystem in the EU.
Wikipedia is the most visible and widely used among these platforms. It is entirely produced by communities of volunteers who fact-check and peer-review information, providing content on a wide range of topics, including political and contested issues. As the only non-commercial platform designated as a VLOP under the Digital Services Act, examining how Wikipedia deals with disinformation can offer new approaches to improving the health of the EU information ecosystem.
Through interdisciplinary and transnational in-depth research, DEM-Debate will map EU regulatory frameworks relevant to community-governed platforms dealing with disinformation, analyse Wikipedia communities’ risk-mitigation measures, and conduct computational analysis of their interactions. By continuously engaging Wikimedia communities in Europe, the project will produce forward-looking policy recommendations to strengthen the information ecosystem. These recommendations will directly benet policymakers, Wikipedia communities, other community-governed projects, the research community, and fact-checkers.
With contributions from experts in civil society (Wikimedia Europe), academia (University of Amsterdam), and applied research (Eurecat) across Europe, DEM-Debate will empower stakeholders at the EU level and contribute to building a more resilient information ecosystem to safeguard democratic processes in Europe.