The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) returns to Amsterdam and will take place from 13 to 16 September 2024. The event will focus on the future of the global media and entertainment industry. Moreover, IBC brings together the creative, technology and business communities to collaborate, learn and unlock new opportunities.
The conference programme will also include sessions focused on disinformation and media. HaDEA addresses the challenge of digital disinformation through several initiatives in its project portfolio. Notably, HaDEA manages projects in the area of European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) Hubs,
These EDMO hubs involve organisations active in one or several EU countries and provide specific knowledge of local information environments to strengthen the detection and analysis of disinformation campaigns, improve public awareness, and design effective responses relevant for national audiences. Each hub establishes tailor-made media initiatives and programmes to tackle disinformation according to the situation in the respective EU countries.
This is an occasion to spotlight the achievements of two of the 14 Hubs: the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO) and the Belgium-Netherlands Digital Media and Disinformation Observatory (BENEDMO).
The aim of CEDMO, funded under CEF Telecom, was to set up a highly experienced hub against disinformation for the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. The project focused on the development of a technical infrastructure for immediate disinformation responses and daily fact checking. During the project lifetime, 1167 fact checks were published by all partners in various languages (EN, CZ, SK, PL). Moreover, the impact of disinformation on society was also researched. The media literacy campaigns didn’t rely only on traditional techniques such as workshops, symposiums, webinars, but also included innovative interactive tools, like self-tests or serious games, to empower the public and attract them. The analytical reports on the state of disinformation, primarily prepared by humanities researchers and journalists, were enhanced by insights gained from digital tools created by technical researchers and developers of the consortium.
The project BENEDMO, funded under CEF Telecom, aimed to establish the EDMO BE/NL hub in the Netherlands and the Flemish community in Belgium. The project has made significant contributions to three domains: fact checking, academic research, and media literacy. The partners published a total of 1,250 publicly available fact checks that were also gathered in the publicly available BENEDMO fact check database, in the Truly Media collection of fact checks and the EDMO fact checking map. The project developed several tools to support the fact checking process, such as automating parts of the work and increasing the impact of fact checks through the BENEDMO fact-check database. The consortium has enriched research reports with relevant examples from fact-checkers, summarised academic research into actionable recommendations, and utilised fact checked content for media literacy purposes. BENEDMO selected, updated, developed, and shared media literacy resources for the public and for professionals. For the general public the BENEDMO consortium carefully selected 23 media literacy interventions. The project had a tangible impact on a wide range of different stakeholders, including researchers, politicians, teachers, and fact checkers, by enhancing their ability to detect and counteract disinformation, thereby supporting the integrity of information ecosystems. The AI tools and educational resources developed have empowered stakeholders to better understand and mitigate the effects of false information.
Background
The Digital Europe Programme (DIGITAL) aims to build the strategic digital capacities of the EU and to facilitate the wide deployment of digital technologies. With an overall budget of €7.5 billion, out of which €0.8 billion is managed by HaDEA, the programme will support investments in the following sectors:
High Performance Computing
Cloud, data, and Artificial Intelligence
Cybersecurity
Advanced digital skills
Accelerating best use of technologies
Details
- Publication date
- 13 September 2024
- Author
- European Health and Digital Executive Agency