• Priority Area Boosting Fact-checking Activities in Europe
• Funding Round / Action Types 7th Funding Round – Urgent Actions
• Year 2024, 2025
• Country Croatia, Slovenia
• Project Status Ongoing

Disinformation erodes trust in politics, media, and elections, thereby undermining democracy. Croatia, facing three elections this year, lacks sufficient efforts to counter false information. At Oštro (Slovenia), fact-checking is used to develop critical thinking abilities, research skills, and high professional standards. Experienced editors and journalists from Oštro (Slovenia) will mentor Oštro (Croatia) in the development of its own fact-checking project, Raskrinkavanje.hr.

Raskrinkavanje.hr will fact-check public statements, media content, and election candidates’ claims, starting with the upcoming Presidential election, addressing a gap in predominant fact-checking efforts with a significant focus on disinformation shared on Facebook. Oštro (Slovenia) will scale up its model, including the embedded incubator for future investigative reporters, to Croatian needs.
Launching before the Presidential elections in late 2024, the project will combat manipulative campaign activities, including bot usage and AI-generated false content. Rapidly evolving disinformation techniques challenge Croatian voters’ abilities to make informed decisions.

Project objectives include:

• equipping Croatian voters and the public with accurate, in-depth information on important topics, developments, and heated public debates
• raising public awareness of local disinformation and empowering diverse readerships
• developing fact-checking and future investigative reporters in Croatia.

The project aims to reduce disinformation’s impact, foster knowledge-sharing among the two fact-checking organizations, and incubate future investigative journalists, while upholding high professional standards. In the EU context, an additional trained newsroom enhances efforts to uphold European democratic values, promote solidarity among member states, and safeguard policy and institutional integrity.