Our colleagues at Demagog.cz have started cooperation with Czech tech company Seznam.cz to fact-check political ads ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Czech Republic. The aim is to draw attention to the spread of false or misleading claims that may appear in political advertising. Thanks to this collaboration, the project will be able to expand its monitoring of pre-election communication to include paid formats, thereby contributing to greater transparency in public debate.
Demagog will assess selected advertising campaigns containing factual claims related to politics for Seznam. If Demagog finds that a specific political advertisement contains false or misleading content, Seznam may reject the advertisement. In accordance with the aforementioned cooperation, the company has updated its terms and conditions for political advertising.
“We have been following with concern attempts to interfere with the fairness of elections in Romania and Germany. It is important to us that our services are not misused in unfair political competition,” explains Peter Jančárik, who is responsible for disinformation and content moderation at Seznam, explaining the reason for the new cooperation. “Demagog.cz uses a time-tested, clear, and transparent methodology for evaluating politicians’ statements. That is why we have decided to financially support this project in its ongoing monitoring of election campaigns and to consult with it on controversial creative content that our clients may wish to order for their election campaigns,” adds Jančárik.
“Before elections, politicians’ words have a greater influence on voters’ decisions than ever before, especially when they are supported by advertising campaigns. That is why we are pleased that, thanks to our cooperation with Seznam, we will be able to expand our fact-checking activities to the area of political advertising and thus verify to a greater extent the factual claims made by politicians and political parties in their campaigns. In addition to advertising on Seznam, we will also focus on factual claims contained in other advertising formats, not just online,” said Jan Fridrichovský, editor-in-chief of the Demagog.cz project.
Seznam’s cooperation with the Demagog.cz project will run from July 1, 2025, until at least the end of October 2025, with the possibility of extension.
Seznam.cz and Demagog.cz are signatories to the European Code of Practice on Disinformation. Demagog.cz is also a signatory to the code of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and the European Fact-Checking Network (EFCSN) and adheres to their strict standards.