The German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory (GADMO) brings together fact checks from the leading German-speaking verification organizations at faktengegenfakes.de/gadmo.eu
Vienna (OTS) – On November 1st last year, the largest association of fact check teams and researchers in the German-speaking world was founded. Now the websites faktengegenfakes.de and gadmo.eu are launched, on which all fact checks of all members are accessible in one place. The “GADMO – German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory” project with the aim of combating disinformation and false information across borders is being implemented in Austria by the APA – Austria Press Agency and the AIT Austrian Institute Of Technology.
The fact checks could already be found on the respective websites of the organizations – since February 23rd they have been available to the public on the new online platform of GADMO faktengegenfakes.de / gadmo.eu, so that citizens can easily obtain comprehensive information can. The online archive goes back to November 2022, new fact checks are added daily, which can be filtered by categories such as health, environment, economy and politics as well as the respective fact check organization.
APA Verification Officer Florian Schmidt emphasizes: “GADMO enables us to network better with other fact-checking teams, while at the same time maintaining our editorial independence. For example, we can identify trends in false information in Austria and Germany earlier. Bringing the fact checks together on a common platform offers the general public a central point of contact for finding out about facts.”
To ensure that fake news is recognized as quickly as possible and not spread further, the GADMO team will in future also be offering workshops and learning materials to promote media skills, which will also be made available on the online platform.
The German-Austrian GADMO, which is managed by the Institute for Journalism at the TU Dortmund, is promoting the coordinated fight against false claims and disinformation campaigns on the Internet. Under the motto “Facts against Fakes”, the leading fact check organizations in the German press agency (dpa), the Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Austria Press Agency (APA) and the independent research network CORRECTIV are working together for the first time German-speaking area together. They cooperate closely with researchers from the Institute for Journalism and the Faculty of Statistics at the TU Dortmund and the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. The researchers identify and analyze disinformation campaigns, develop AI-supported tools to better identify fakes and check whether digital platforms and social networks are doing enough to fight disinformation. Technical partner is the Athens Technology Center.
The German-Austrian GADMO is part of the Europe-wide network of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). This EU-funded, independent coordination office was launched in 2020 and is intended to pool the forces of fact-checking organizations, research and other experts in the fight against disinformation. The network now consists of 14 regional centers covering all EU countries.
The GADMO – German-Austrian Digital Media Observatory project is funded by the EU Commission*.
*Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HADEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Questions & contact:
APA – Austria Press Agency
Petra Haller
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Tel.: +43 (0)1 360 60-5710
petra.haller@apa.at