site.btaEuropean Commission Supports Establishment of Bulgarian-Romanian Hub to Combat Disinformation

The European Commission said Thursday it is providing EUR 8 million for the establishment of six new anti-disinformation hubs that will become part of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), the independent platform for fact-checkers, academic researchers and other relevant stakeholders contributing to addressing disinformation in Europe. A Bulgarian-Romanian anti-disinformation centre is to be set up and begin operation in 2023.

Other such hubs will operate in Croatia and Slovenia; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; Germany and Austria; Hungary; Greece, Malta and Cyprus. In 2020, anti-disinformation hubs were opened in Belgium and the Netherlands; Spain; Luxembourg; France; Italy.

University researchers, independent fact-checkers, media officers will be involved in the work of the new organisations. They will seek to detect and assess disinformation campaigns and organise media literacy courses.

The EC notes that from next year the EU anti-disinformation hubs will extend to all EU countries. It is envisaged that as part of the activity, participants will continuously exchange data on detected disinformation acts.