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By Enock Nyariki (mailto:[email protected]?subject=&body=)

In this edition
* The director of the International Fact-Checking Network previews the annual summit of the world’s fact-checkers in Rio next week
* IFCN Code of Principles report: Fact-checkers double down on standards
* New book on how misinformation causes real-world harm — and how to measure its impact
* Factually gets a new look! Do you like it?

The world’s fact-checkers at the 2024 GlobalFact in Sarajevo. (IFCN photo/file)

Alexandre de Moraes doesn't often speak to journalists, but he has become Brazil’s top authority in the fight against misinformation. As a Supreme Court justice, de Moraes has taken bold steps to stop harmful lies online, drawing global attention for his public clashes with former President Jair Bolsonaro and X owner Elon Musk. His actions are helping shape Brazil’s response to growing threats against its democracy.

De Moraes will deliver the keynote address at GlobalFact 12, the world’s largest annual gathering for fact-checkers, which opens Wednesday, June 25, at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. More than 350 fact-checkers, policymakers, academics and platform representatives, including from TikTok, will meet to discuss the challenges of misinformation at a pivotal moment. The summit follows difficult months for the fact-checking industry, marked by major funding cuts, rising harassment and the retreat of platforms from efforts to curb falsehoods.

Ahead of the summit, I spoke with my colleague Angie Drobnic Holan, director of the International Fact-Checking Network, about what attendees can expect during the three-day event and how those unable to travel can follow along. Below is our conversation.

Enock Nyariki: Why should people tune into GlobalFact 12 later this month and what can they expect from guest speakers like Alexandre de Moraes, the Supreme Court justice who has steered Brazil’s fight against disinformation?

Angie Drobnic Holan: GlobalFact is where the world’s fact-checkers come together to share best practices in journalism and business, spot emerging trends, collaborate on new initiatives, and stay current with the industry. Guest speaker Justice Alexandre de Moraes has won international attention (he was recently profiled in The New Yorker) for his strict enforcement of Brazilian law against tech platforms. De Moraes has said his actions against platforms like X have been driven by a determination to protect Brazil’s democracy and force companies to obey its laws.

He’ll be joined by two other notable figures from Brazil’s government. Cármen Lúcia is a justice of the Supreme Federal Court and has spoken regularly about the threats of online disinformation to elections. Jorge Messias, Brazil’s attorney general, has led hearings on the need for tech platform content moderation policies. Together, they will provide key insights into Brazil’s current approach.

For the record, the IFCN takes no positions on particular approaches to information law. But I do think the world’s fact-checkers will learn a great deal from hearing about Brazil’s perspective on information integrity.

Additionally, Brazil’s fact-checkers — Aos Fatos, Estadão Verifica, Lupa, and UOL Confere — will speak on multiple panels to explain the important role fact-checkers have had in covering Brazil’s elections and where they believe the fact-checking community should go next. IFCN is proud to partner with these four organizations to host GlobalFact in Rio de Janeiro.

Nyariki: This is the first GlobalFact in Brazil. What does hosting the summit in Rio mean for fact-checking in Latin America and worldwide?

Holan: GlobalFact was last in Latin America during the summer of 2016 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A lot has changed since then. We’ve seen fact-checking grow by leaps and bounds, and the regional network, Latam Chequea, has grown dramatically as well. I think Latin America provides an important counterbalance to information policies that come out of Europe and the United States, showing us that many different approaches to information integrity are in play globally these days. Also, as part of the Global South, Latin America has unique perspectives on self-government and development.

I’m especially looking forward to hearing the panel featuring Laura Zommer of Factchequeado, Brazilian journalist Patrícia Campos Mello, and Jaime Abello Banfi of the Gabo Foundation. Laura is a global leader in fact-checking; Patrícia is an internationally recognized journalist, and Jaime is someone who can speak to the current moment’s threats and potential. He leads the Gabo Foundation, founded by author and Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez, which emphasizes the important role of independent journalism for both human rights and creativity.

Nyariki: Funding cuts, such as Meta ending its U.S. fact-checking program, and rising harassment have strained many newsrooms. How will GlobalFact 12 address these threats and support fact-checkers?

Holan: We have several panels devoted to these topics, though I will warn you that there are no magic solutions to persistent problems like harassment. Rather, we see recurring strategies to implement and helpful processes to manage. On Meta’s moves, I think we will have a lot of discussion on what Meta has done in the United States and what they might do next globally. I regret to report that though IFCN invited Meta to attend the conference, they declined. So we’ll have to have those discussions in Rio without them.

Nyariki: AI is moving fast and reshaping journalism. What new tools, partnerships or ideas do you see emerging at GlobalFact 12 that could help fact-checkers adapt and grow?

Holan: This could be one of the most intriguing areas of the conference. I think generative artificial intelligence is going to reshape how people access information and their relationships with online content. So fact-checkers and all journalists need to be thinking hard about what we want our relationships with both the audience and AI companies to look like.

AI has a problem with consistently reporting back accurate information; there’s pretty much no doubt of that now. Given the very nature of how AI works, it’s not going to be an easy thing for engineers to fix without routine human intervention. I think there's an opportunity for fact-checkers there. And it’s better if we collaborate on outreach efforts so we can develop relationships and work processes that can scale.

Nyariki: With more than 300 fact-checkers and 80 speakers on site, what collaborations or outcomes do you hope to see by the end of the summit?

Holan: There are always unexpected outcomes from a GlobalFact conference — the dreams and brainstorms of an idealistic group like ours always yield new ideas. (And we are idealistic about giving people access to accurate, trustworthy information!) Our Code of Principles, for example, was an idea that sprang from GlobalFacts in London and Buenos Aires.

This year, I think we most need to remind ourselves of our mission, and how much our work is needed. It’s easy to get discouraged, but I think vibrant conversations among peers — maybe held beachside in gorgeous Rio de Janeiro, over a cocktail or a coconut water — will help us all keep our spirits up.

Nyariki: For online viewers, what will the virtual experience look like?

Holan: The online sessions will be livestreamed as they happen during Rio de Janeiro’s business hours. Then, we’ll load the video for people to watch at their convenience in multiple time zones around the world.

Nyariki: The Global Fact-Checking Awards on June 26 honor work in Impact, Creative Format, Collaboration and Gold Standard. What should viewers know about this year’s finalists, and why do these awards matter to the community?

Holan: I’m just as excited to find out this year’s winners as everyone else. (I actually don’t know who they are yet!) This year, we asked a jury of their peer fact-checkers to select the finalists and winners, so I think the winners will be truly outstanding. These awards are tangible evidence of the great work being produced by fact-checking journalists around the world.

Having said that, I think any fact-checking organization that entered its work is a winner this year — producing fact-checking journalism that you feel deserves widespread recognition is a win itself. So I’m very grateful to all the fact-checkers who entered, regardless of the final results.

As threats grow, fact-checkers double down on standards, IFCN report finds

Global demand for credibility has driven a record surge in applications to the International Fact-Checking Network’s Code of Principles, the network’s new annual report shows. Despite mounting legal threats, online harassment and declining budgets, fact-checking organizations are “leaning into” public accountability rather than pulling back, the report says.

The network, based at the nonprofit Poynter Institute, reviewed 226 applications last year — 61 from first-time journalist groups and 165 from renewing signatories — and certified 116 of them. The roster now includes 182 verified fact-checking organizations across 57 countries, each committed to nonpartisanship, transparent funding, clear sourcing, a public methodology and an open corrections policy. First introduced in 2016, those standards have become the global benchmark for professional fact-checking.

To keep pace with the surge in applications, the IFCN rebuilt its screening process, overhauled its website and strengthened assessor training. Average review time fell from as long as 10 months to about six. Signatories with five successful renewals now follow a two-year review cycle, freeing up staff, independent assessors and the advisory board to spend more time on new applicants.

The IFCN also expanded its governance structure. Eight regional leaders joined the advisory board, with additional working groups focused on financial sustainability, harassment response and community engagement. A tighter complaints system filters out frivolous submissions, routes credible concerns directly to assessors and helps protect fact-checkers from coordinated harassment.

Since 2023, the $12 million Global Fact Check Fund has awarded nearly $6 million to 134 fact-checking organizations in 67 countries, supporting staff hires, security improvements and audience expansion. The fund reinforces the Code’s standards and shows that credible fact-checking is worth investment.

Despite retreats by some technology companies and chilling attacks on fact-checkers, the IFCN plans a full review of the Code in 2025 and 2026. The update will examine how generative AI, collaborative fact-checking and shrinking civic space are testing current standards. A self-paced online course is also in development to guide applicants through each requirement, and new automation will improve how applications are tracked and reviewed.

The report offers fact-checkers more guidance on the path to certification and a vivid portrait of community standards. For policymakers and funders, it is a snapshot of what credible, transparent fact-checking looks like and what it takes to sustain it.

Read the full report here ([link removed]) .

ON OUR RADAR
* A new AFP investigation ([link removed]) warns that AI chatbots are increasingly used for fact-checking but often spread misinformation instead. During the recent India-Pakistan conflict, Grok misidentified old videos as live missile strikes, while Google’s Gemini fabricated details about an AI-generated image. Researchers and fact-checkers, including IFCN’s Angie D. Holan, say the shift away from human fact-checking risks spreading misinformation instead of stopping it.
* Maldita.es has traced a ring of 59 Facebook pages posing as transit agencies in 47 Spanish cities, luring riders with ads for free travel cards. The posts, viewed more than 900,000 times since January, send users to phishing sites that harvest personal and credit-card data. Meta’s records show many page administrators in Vietnam, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Ukraine, and Maldita links the same network to transit scams in France, Turkey, Ghana and the United Kingdom. Read the full report here ([link removed]) .
* Experts at this year’s Point Conference in Sarajevo unveiled a four-pillar plan ([link removed]) that urges governments, advertisers and civic groups to cut the cash that keeps disinformation alive. Gaza and Syrian fact-checkers echoed the message in a separate panel ([link removed]) , explaining how they verify suspicious claims during bombardment, blackouts and smear campaigns.
* After four years of research into which false claims cause real harm and which simply mislead, Peter Cunliffe-Jones has published a new book that offers a clearer way to tell the difference. Cunliffe-Jones, the founder of Africa Check, draws on academic studies and fact-checker databases to propose a model for understanding how misinformation affects both the public and policymakers. “Fake News — What’s the Harm?” is free to read online ([link removed]) , with a print version also available. He will present the findings at next week’s GlobalFact conference in Rio.
* The International Fact-Checking Network warns that a Hungarian bill targeting news outlets that receive foreign funding would stifle independent journalism and threaten Lakmusz, the country’s IFCN-accredited fact-checker. The proposal would let a new sovereignty office list such organizations, monitor their bank accounts and block their funds, a move critics say violates the EU’s 2024 Media Freedom Act and mirrors Georgia’s recent “foreign agent” law. The IFCN says the measure could cripple accountability reporting and has joined press-freedom groups in expressing concerns about the bill. Read the statement here ([link removed]) .
* Factually has a new look! We hope you’ll find this format easier to read and more visually pleasing. Thank you to Jamese Branch of the Poynter Institute for her assistance with the redesign.

Have ideas or suggestions for the next issue of Factually? Email us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=&body=) .


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