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AFP Participates in Project Leveraging AI to Combat Climate Misinformation
AFP, in association with the European Fact-Checking Standards network (EFCSN) and other European stakeholders, announces the launch of a project to improve the capacities of European fact-checking organisations to tackle crisis situations. It is called FactCRICIS (European Fact-Checking Response in Climate Crises), co-funded by the European Union.
FactCRICIS will support fact-checkers to identify and debunk disinformation campaigns related to climate change and other crises, fostering more rapid, impactful and coordinated responses within and across European borders.
For the project, AFP will work alongside EFCSN and 20 other member organisations, in conjunction with the Germany-based university TU Dortmund, the Spanish fact-checking and technological development organisations Newtral and Maldita.es, the science and technology-focused fact-checking organisation Science Feedback, and Bulgaria-based AI and data management company Ontotext.
The project’s goal is to establish a comprehensive package of practical resources — combining cutting-edge AI tools with climate expertise — designed to bolster the preparedness of European fact-checkers to respond to climate mis/disinformation and foster cross-border collaboration.
One outcome of the project will be a comprehensive database of climate related mis- and disinformation and corresponding fact-checks enriched with sophisticated metadata to provide first-of-their-kind insights into false claims about climate change and related policy issues.
Initially the database will be used by fact-checking organisations that are part of EFCSN, including AFP, in a pilot program to test and improve the database. The European public will be able to access the database through an open-access website.
In the meantime, readers can subscribe to the EFCSN newsletter to stay up to date with key mis/disinformation trends identified and fact-checks produced using the database tools as well as other EFCSN project updates.
Read more about the project on the EFCSN’s website.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be held responsible for them.