The European Commission has launched a €5 million call for proposals to support the growth of a European Network of Fact-Checkers. The initiative is part of the "European Democracy Shield" programme and aims to create a safer, more transparent and more resilient information ecosystem for all citizens of the European Union.
Fact-checkers are individuals or organizations that specialize in assessing the accuracy of public information, especially politicians' statements, viral news, media articles, and social media content.
The initiative covers, among others, the following main actions:
- strengthen the capacity of the fact-checking community across Europe, in all EU Member States and official languages;
- implement a fact-checkers protection scheme against harassment;
- build a repository of fact-checks;
- create fact-checking response capacity including for emergency situations.
The call is open until 2 September 2025, for organisations from EU Member States, as well as from candidate and accession countries, and countries from regions particularly vulnerable to disinformation and foreign interference. Further details about the initiative are available here.
