Countering Disinformation
Understanding information disorder: understand the essentials of mis- and disinformation.
Responsible reporting in an age of disinformation: learn what you should be asking yourself to report ethically and effectively on disinformation.
Newsgathering and monitoring on the social web: find sources, monitor conversations, understand behaviours, track events and find the issues that affect a community
Verifying online information: concepts, tools and checklists to make sure you get it right
Closed spaces, messaging apps and online ads: learn how to use closed messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp or Discord for reporting and understand the ethical issues
This database provides an overview of many of the symbols most frequently used by a variety of white supremacist groups and movements, as well as some other types of hate groups.
“NATO intervention in the Kosovo war was unjustified”. This is the narrative that the Russian and Serbian propaganda has been trying to push forward for many years.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | May 12, 2022
While the war in Ukraine progresses and we are forced to watch the brave men and women fight for their country’s freedom and independence, many others are organizing their lives after being forced to flee their country.
Hive Mind | 6 min read | May 6, 2022
Disinformation techniques are numerous, but all of them can fall into one of those four categories: dismiss, distort, distract, or dismay. Here is the rule of thumb that will help you recognize, predict and prepare to counter disinformation.
Hive Mind | 4 min read | Apr 11, 2022
Information can come from various sources. Most often than not, you would pick up your smartphone or open your laptop and start scrolling through content; clicking on and sharing whatever looks interesting. However, it is good to know what is going on behind the scenes…
Hive Mind | 2 min read | Apr 4, 2022
If you run a campaign or simply post on your social media channels messages about the current situation, you should anticipate some hateful comments. There are certain ways to deal with trolls.
Hive Mind | 1 min read | Mar 28, 2022
Get to know an exciting joint European project that uses technology and research against online hate. From anti-vaxxers using Eriksen’s collapse at EURO 2020 to Russian propaganda on the war in Ukraine, their content is worth taking a look at.
Bécser Vera | 2 min read | Mar 28, 2022
Russia's war against Ukraine is not only taking place on the battlefields and in besieged cities, but also in the information space. This was true even before the digital age, but war propaganda has reached a new level thanks to the possibilities of the Internet. Fake news, dubious images, videos, untraceable figures, battlefield results, not to mention conspiracy theories explaining the background to the attack.
Bécser Vera | 2 min read | Mar 24, 2022
In today's digital world, information warfare is significantly more pronounced. The war in Ukraine is also taking place on several fronts of the information world, in front of video games, TikTok, and that of fact-checkers. Therefore, the focus of journalists should be on news sources, in controlling them to avoid the possibility of fraud from manipulated information.
Dren Gerguri | 4 min read | Mar 24, 2022
Knowledge about disinformation is more important now than ever. Critical thinking is key and it’s worth supporting it with the knowledge on how to recognize different forms of information disorder.
Hive Mind | 4 min read | Mar 2, 2022
Dezinformacja w służbie Putina, czyli o tym jak nie wpaść w tryby machiny propagandowej: webinarium 03.03.2022 (czwartek); 18:30-19:30
Hive Mind | 2 min read | Feb 28, 2022
On January 21, DFR Lab, Techsoup and MAKAIA officially launched Hive Mind for Latin America. In the webinar called "5 concepts you should know about digital disinformation", we shared together with CIVIX Colombia some tips for identifying information and the different learning opportunities available in Hive Mind.
MAKAIA | 2 min read | Feb 15, 2022
PERSONAL DEMOCRACY FORUM UKRAINE (PDF UA 2022) is back!
This year PDF UA will be held on March 3-4 in Kyiv in a hybrid form.
The “Future of the Elections” is the main topic this year.
TechSoup Europe joins OPORA, TransparenCEE Network and OSCE ODIHR for the fifth time and brings "tech4good", transparency, and open data topics to the Ukrainian debate about democracy and the role of civil society.
Tytarenko Yaroslava | 2 min read | Jan 28, 2022
Social media platforms allow users to interact in a faster and easier manner. On one hand, this phenomenon helps establishing relationships and bonds beyond physical boundaries, leading to the exchange of information and content of all kinds. It is also not a secret that these platforms offer users tools for commercializing goods, products and services.
CIVIX Colombia | 4 min read | Jan 3, 2022
A humanitarian crisis has gained momentum on the Polish-Belarusian border since August 2021. Alyaksandr Lukashenko, who rules in Belarus, has encouraged thousands of people from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and African countries to come to Belarus. He has done this through a deliberate campaign to disrupt the European Union. Refugees are being forced to cross the Polish border, and those who disobey are being beaten. People at the border have no food or water. Many, including children, have died. We will explore two popular anti-refugee narratives and learn about alternative or counter narratives that are worth spreading and using in discussions.
Beata Zwierzynska | 7 min read | Dec 9, 2021
We live in the Information Age. Our ability to synthesize and use information well is crucial to our fate and future well-being. Our Experts have been designing bespoke courses on topics that are relevant, set in a meaningful context and important. From making sense of the news online, to protecting your own or your organization’s digital safety and privacy.
Hive Mind | 3 min read | Nov 15, 2021
Whether it's about the ominous powers that can be lizard-people in the skin of public figures, foreigners out to destroy a country, or chips implanted by vaccines against COVID-19, fake news is spreading like wildfire on the Internet. It's not too much of a problem if you think that there are aliens lurking behind the exteriors of politicians, like in a bad B-movie.
But it can be a concrete danger to one's immediate environment to believe that coronavirus vaccines are harmful to the human body.
How do we tell our fake-news believing friends or loved ones that they should think again about these absurd misconceptions?
Mertek Media Monitor | 2 min read | Nov 10, 2021
"The Social Dilemma" movie has been made available by its makers for educators worldwide in a free, classroom-friendly, 40-minute format that can be screened during a single lesson.
Hive Mind | 2 min read | Nov 9, 2021
30 Polish editors-in-chief have recently published a joint appeal to lift the ban on journalists working in the eastern border areas in Poland, where a state of emergency was introduced due to the prolonged migration crisis.
Katarzyna Sadło | 4 min read | Oct 15, 2021
In this short, educational video, Oana Despa and Codruța Simina talk about manipulation and fake news. Oana is the chief editor of Buletin de București and Codruța Simina is a journalist at PressOne, an independent media project very well known in Romania. In this episode, they meet online and together try to find out how to best identify fake sites or accounts in the social network.
Oana Despa | 2 min read | Oct 11, 2021
It is only human to defend ourselves when someone challenges us or our opinions. In case, however, when they have a clear proof that what we are saying is not based on facts, it is quite logical that we should not continue spreading false statements. If someone decides to do this, regardless of the consequences or harm this may cause, they should better watch out, as it's fact-checking time!
Dajana Markovic | 1 min read | Sep 28, 2021
The large number of likes, comments or distributions does not mean that it reflects the real number of people involved in that interactivity. The online public sphere is often contaminated by Bots and Trolls.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Sep 23, 2021
Here are some guidelines for your greater well-being as a media consumer. Yes, we are all media consumers. You got that correctly. In the following video, you will find a number of useful tips and tricks that will aid your digital transformation from a regular media consumer to a Media Literacy Expert!
Dajana Markovic | 2 min read | Sep 20, 2021
We are living in an era when we can see or hear things that a person in fact did not say. You can’t imagine what Miroslav Lajčák, EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, is declaring in this video! Check it out and see if it's truth or fiction...
Dren Gerguri | 1 min read | Sep 6, 2021
No matter how much the media strive to capture reality, and no matter how advanced the technology, the world portrayed in the media, from news reports to science fiction and fantasy films, is always a set, constructed, selected reality. The media, on the other hand, not only filters reality, but also shapes and reflects it. It shapes attitudes, raises or lowers themes, positions and characters. The media has never been a one-way communication process in the sense that the communicator - producer and editor of the content - both can never be sure whether the message means the same to the audience as it does to him. Each and every member of the audience, has a wide range of the freedom of interpretation in the reception of media content, which is often based on their own life experiences, current situation, cognitive abilities and limitations, and complex information environment.
Mertek Media Monitor | 5 min read | Aug 18, 2021
The case discussed in the article clearly shows that manipulating pictures has become an intentional propaganda tool, aiming to distort the truth. Any such cheapfakes are dangerous because they disfigure the reality, making people to believe something far from true.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Aug 16, 2021
These days, verifying information that we receive has become a must. By not verifying, then, we are putting ourselves at an outright risk of getting manipulated. So, it is more essential than ever, to put a big question mark at the end of every online message, especially when encountered on social media. It is crucial to keep that question mark until we can fully verify and eliminate doubts about sources' authenticity.
Dren Gerguri | 4 min read | Aug 11, 2021
According to Peter Ditto from the University of California, one of the many reasons why people fall prey to the influence of misinformation lies in so-called motivated reasoning (MR).
Tomáš Kriššák | 12 min read | Aug 11, 2021
If you’re still wondering why you need to be media literate (a skill that is in high demand today more than ever!), you’ll find the answers to this question in this short video. We have singled out the five most important reasons that will help you decide to start studying the media and their messages. The process is relatively straightforward, and you will gain all the necessary skills by simply following our channel. Let’s go!
Dajana Markovic | 1 min read | Jul 30, 2021
In this podcast episode, you will hear Jakub Górnicki talking to Tomáš Kriššák about the Project HOPE, within which a set of tools in the form of an online game was designed to help people tackle negative consequences of the Internet and the social media, including cyber-bullying and propaganda.
Dominika Uzar | 1 min read | Jul 19, 2021
Critical thinking is a buzzword that we hear almost every day. Especially in times of false information and the infodemic that is surrounding us on an everyday basis. And even though we meet with this term regularly, it is still not clear to everyone what it actually means. A brief characteristic of critical thinking is that it is the ability to form one's own opinion based on acquired knowledge, experience, not only from one's knowledge, but also from other people.
Kasia Piotrowska | 4 min read | Jul 5, 2021
Teenagers from Dream Factory acting studio created 8 raising awareness videos focusing on how to recognize Fake News, Deep News and how to behave when someone spreads misinformation, or simply is being abusive online.
Michal Prawdzik | 2 min read | May 28, 2021
Major dangers and media manipulation threats in the age of disinformation
Michal Prawdzik | 1 min read | May 24, 2021
Only by mobilizing at the grassroots can democracies counter disinformation. It’s time to vaccinate citizens against the poison of digital warfare.
Joseph Quinn | 5 min read | May 12, 2021
Due to the ongoing pandemic the schools are closed, and do you, most likely have the privilege of working from home? Well, in this case, you probably have never been so present in your child’s “school life”, even if it’s currently limited to e-learning.
Patryk Zakrzewski | 4 min read | Mar 9, 2021
The advancement of technology brings up constant “innovations” in the areas of misinformation and manipulation. Recently, and more frequently, a new form of manipulation has resurfaced under the name ‘cheapfakes’ and is currently a subject to research and discussions.
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Feb 25, 2021
Dren Gerguri | 3 min read | Dec 17, 2020
We'd like to invite young people associated in non-governmental organizations, informal groups, dialogue bodies and activists acting on their own to free online training sessions on disinformation, recognizing it, preventing and counteracting its negative effects. The training is addressed to all those who understand the importance of disinformation in public life, who would like to learn more about the ways it works, get specific tools of recognition and methods of dealing with it. We also invite people who actively participate in public life (also at the local level) and therefore are most vulnerable to disinformation actions aimed at undermining their credibility and the trust of public opinion, necessary to effectively fight for the public good or the interests of the groups they represent.
Dominika Uzar | 2 min read | Dec 14, 2020
In November young people, including youth councillors, members of school authorities, young social leaders, activists and NGO activists will be able to take part in webinars, during which they will organize and deepen their knowledge in the area of "disinformation". The webinars conducted by Anna Skocz will present ways to prevent disinformation and responsible use of media.
1 min read | Nov 10, 2020
On December the 2nd, journalists of traditional and civic media, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations will be able to take part in a webinar, where they will learn about disinformation techniques applied to non-governmental organizations actively participating in public life and ways to counteract the negative effects of these actions. The webinar conducted by Katarzyna Sadło is an answer to the growing number of information activities aimed at undermining the credibility of NGOs in the eyes of public opinion.
Dominika Uzar | 1 min read | Oct 28, 2020
We invite non-governmental organizations for a free online training on disinformation against non-governmental organizations, its recognition, prevention and counteracting negative effects. The training is addressed to all organizations, especially those actively participating in public life, i.e. the most vulnerable to disinformation actions aimed at undermining their credibility and public trust, necessary to effectively fight for the public good or interests of the groups they represent.
2 min read | Oct 28, 2020
On the 7th of November 2020 educators and educators, teachers, educational activists, trade unionists, leaders of formal and informal grassroots groups, adult students, parents, human rights activists will be able to take part in a webinar on disinformational narratives.
1 min read | Oct 27, 2020
Recruitment for free online workshops in media education just started
2 min read | Oct 27, 2020
Google’s Fact Check Explorer Is Fast & Generates Accurate Results In All Languages
Mark Semoil | 1 min read | Aug 7, 2020
Mobile Reverse Image Search In 3-Steps
Mark Semoil | 3 min read | Jul 31, 2020
The New Fact Check Explorer & A Step-By-Step Guide To Markup Tool
Mark Semoil | 3 min read | Jul 15, 2020
Guides, checklists, FAQs, reading lists and a debunk database
Mark Semoil | 1 min read | Jul 8, 2020