This initiative, supported in particular by AFP and Sciences Po, was born out of a call for projects launched by the European Commission.
A group of researchers, journalists and specialists in media education announced on Tuesday 11 January the birth of “De facto», a platform for the fight against disinformation and the French version of a project launched on a European scale.
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This initiative, led by Sciences Po, AFP, the Clemi (Liaison Center for Education and Information Media) and the XWiki collaborative platform, was born out of a call for projects launched by the European Commission. The objective is to support the creation of eight national projects combining the expertise of academics, media education professionals and journalists to counter false information in 15 countries.
Several media partners
“De facto», just like its European neighbours, is “independent of institutions, government and initiatives the government might take on disinformation”, underlined Dominique Cardon, director of the Medialab of Sciences-Po, during a press conference. “Academic freedom” and “principle of independence of journalistic editorial staff” animate the platform whose launch is “the first stone of a set of actions that will be deployed in the years to come“, he added.
“AFP will coordinate the publication of factchecks which come not only from its editorial staff but also from other editorial staff“, such as Liberation, Radio France, 20minutes and Les surligneurs, first partners of this initiative, explained Christine Buhagiar, director Europe of AFP. “There may be other partners who join us during the year, the door will always remain open to other factcheckers“, she continued. Educational content will also be available on the site, explaining how information can be falsified and verified. Teachers and the media will also be able to find more specialized tools and access to free software.
The platform will be the point of launch and publication “of a body of research on the circuits of disinformation“, on its effects in the way of obtaining information or on the issues of regulation of digital platforms, is it specified in a press release. Other European projectsare about to launch“, indicated Christine Buhagiar. Countries not yet covered by the European initiative are currently the subject of a call for tenders but by the end of the year, “there really is going to be full European coverage by hubs against disinformation“, guaranteed the journalist.