• Priority Area Boosting Fact-checking Activities in Europe
• Funding Round / Action Types 5th Funding Round – Urgent Actions
• Year 2023, 2024
• Country Belgium
• Project Status Ongoing

From 6 to 9 June 2024, the first European elections since the pandemic and the start of the war in Ukraine will take place. A lot is at stake, as the results of these elections will largely determine the EU’s political direction from 2024 until 2029.

At the same time, European news gathering will be under severe pressure in 2024.

Mis- and disinformation will run rampant in what will be a major election year – not just in Europe but all over the world. The pandemic and other global developments have impacted the viability and spread of fake news in Europe, and that trend will only be amplified during the elections.

Additionally, new developments in generative AI are creating challenges for content verification processes that journalists aren’t prepared for.

As a result, many journalists covering EU news will not have enough time or resources for extensive fact-checks in the run-up to the European elections of 2024 – even though this is increasingly needed.

The project ‘Electi Facts: Euro 2024’ addresses that need. It will run from January until June 2024 and enable structural fact-checking of claims and statements made during/about the European elections. Electi Facts will help filter out disinformation in EU news coverage, which will benefit international journalists and, in turn, their respective audiences.

Electi Facts will be managed by the journalistic Research team of Headline News Facilities Productions in Brussels, whose members are all certified journalists who work as researcher-producers for international media. They will be joined by freelance fact-checkers.
The project includes the creation of a website, newsletter and podcast series to disseminate the fact-checks for free to journalists and fact-checkers covering EU news, as well as anyone interested. It will also include tailor-made training from College of Europe on fact-checking and fact-finding during the EU elections and a networking event to introduce the project to journalists in Brussels.