The CEDMO hub’s fact-checking activities are based on an experienced and extensive ecosystem of fact-checkers, disinformation analysts, media literacy organisations and academics who detect, analyse, and expose emerging harmful information disorders. Therefore, the project pays special attention to disinformation targeting Central European and EU issues and policies. Through a rapid-alert network, fact-checking and investigation, reports are sent to the relevant target group (media, public institutions, civil society and government) to minimise the impact of disinformation campaigns. Immediate responses to disinformation and daily fact‑checking are delivered by Demagog.cz, Demagog.pl, and Demagog.sk, together with seasoned professionals from the international news agency AFP.
Demagog.cz is a dedicated fact-checking platform launched in 2012. Its focus is in fact-checking Czech politicians in speeches, debates, interviews or on social media and fact-checking viral social media content as a third-party fact-checker for Meta. Demagog.cz also maintains promise trackers for Czech governments, runs educational workshops and leads fact-checking in CEDMO. As a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles and member of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network, Demagog.cz strictly adheres to principles of non-partisanship, transparency and other journalistic standards.
Demagog.pl is Poland’s first fact-checking organization, operating since 2014. Its main goal is to verify statements made by politicians, analyze information appearing in the media and online, and combat misinformation in the public sphere. The Demagog team fact-checks based on reliable sources, data, and expert opinions, and the results are published along with justifications and references to source materials. The organization also conducts educational activities on information verification and resistance to manipulation.
Demagog also publishes “Obiektyw”—a quarterly analytical and journalistic magazine dedicated to the mechanisms of disinformation, the analysis of influence networks, and in-depth reporting and investigations concerning the contemporary information ecosystem.
Demagog is a signatory to the standards of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), which commit the organization to impartiality, methodological transparency, and high journalistic standards.
Demagog.sk has been fact-checking Slovak politicians since 2010. Their team follows statements of politicians in TV and broadcast debates, social media, and interviews and compares them to verified sources, data, and facts. They are committed to non-partisanship, fairness, and transparency, and believe that political debate should be based on verifiable facts and arguments, not only on feelings and emotion. Demagog.sk strives for positive change – to motivate young people and the society to take interest in political affairs and reliable information. Demagog.sk has fact-checked more than 22 000 statements and debunked more than 300 disinformation circulating on social media. Demagog.sk is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network Code of Principles and verified member of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network.
AFP, a global leader in digital verification, is a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) code of principles. These include a commitment to: non-partisanship and fairness, transparency of sources, transparency of funding and organization, transparency of methodology and an open and honest corrections policy.
Our work is carried out by fact-checking editors and a worldwide network of journalists, following the editorial standards and key guiding principles of the AFP global news agency. As well as traditional journalism skills, we use a number of simple tools to verify online information, some common sense and a lot of caution.
Starting out with a specific question, we seek to investigate and report dubious stories and claims that may or may not end up on our newswires. We seek non-partisan, publicly available information in our investigations, and link to it online. Our journalists monitor online content in local languages, from Amharic to Hindi, German or Dutch. They take into account local cultures, languages and politics and work with AFP’s bureaus worldwide to investigate and disprove false information, focusing on items that can be harmful, impactful and manipulative.