We are proud to announce our renewed commitment in the European Digital Media Observatory.
European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) is an independent observatory bringing together fact-checkers and academic researchers with expertise in the field of online disinformation, social media platforms, journalist driven media and media literacy practitioners. It promotes scientific knowledge on online disinformation, advances the development of fact-checking services and supports media literacy programmes.
A European Commission call for tender has confirmed a European University Institute-headed consortium as lead of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Europe’s MediaLab joins the consortium as fully fledged partner and brings its support in the fight against the rising challenges of online disinformation, including the war in Ukraine.
Within EU member states, EDMO works with national and regional hubs: to implement activities tackling disinformation at the grassroots level. The 14 hubs cover all 27 EU Member States and Norway. January 2023 willmark the start of activities of six new EDMO Hubs, which will tailor the network’s mission to the local specificities and vulnerabilities of the various European digital spaces.
EDMO gathers a wide network of European experts providing material such as collaborative investigations, fact-checking briefs, research papers and policy reports, insights and early-warnings on the most recent developments of disinformation. The network contributes to a deeper understanding of disinformation by engaging with policymakers and civil society.
Among the many new activities in the next phase of EDMO, the network will detect, analyse and counter disinformation campaigns in the 27 member states ahead of the European elections in 2024.
More about EDMO II
In the coming two and a half years, EDMO will tackle disinformation through:
- joint fact-checking activities across European countries;
- research activities and open-source investigations on disinformation at the EU level;
- collaboration with the network of EDMO Hubs and partners reacting to disinformation threats related to crisis situations;
- cooperation with the signatories of the 2022 Code of Practice on Disinformation to support the fulfilment of the relevant Code’s commitments;
- communication campaigns on its activities and achievements, including those of the EDMO Hubs, to keep European audiences informed.
The consortium coordinated by the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance in Florence (Italy) welcomes new members:
- the University of Amsterdam with its Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), which will strengthen EDMO with its long-standing tradition in media and communication research
- the Belgian Media & Learning Association (MLA), which will join EDMO II to broaden efficient media literacy activities
- the Brussels Europe MediaLab (Fondation EURACTIV), which will contribute especially to strategy and co-operation with third-part organisations.
Two subcontractors will join the project: the Slovak Center for Democracy and Resilience at GLOBSEC (open-source investigations) and the think tank Integrity Institute (policy advice).
Other consortium partners are the Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) based at the EUI, which is focusing on policy analysis; the Danish research centre Datalab at Aarhus University, which is specialised in digital social research; the Greek Athens Technology Center, which provides technological support and tools to tackle disinformation; and the Italian Pagella Politica, one of the country’s major fact-checking organisations.
EDMO is governed by an Executive Board and an Advisory Board composed of experts from research, media and fact-checking organisations. EDMO’s governance structure is independent of governmental or private interests. The second phase of the project runs until the first semester of 2025, with funding of € 4 million.
To learn more: https://edmo.eu/