Maldita.es, member of IBERIFIER: the Observatory that will analyze disinformation in Spain and Portugal, supported by the European Commission

Under the name IBERIFIER, 23 Spanish and Portuguese institutions will create an observatory to study digital media and monitor disinformation threats. This project is one of the eight regional nodes that will be part of the European Commission’s European Digital Media Observatory. It has a budget of 1.47 million euros over 2.5 years to cover the project activities of 12 universities, 5 verification organizations and news agencies, and 6 multidisciplinary research institutions that have come together to study disinformation in Spain and Portugal.

 together to study disinformation in Spain and Portugal.

Maldita.es has been a promoter of this project from the beginning and it is in line with our support for research on disinformation. It is another step forward in our objective to study a phenomenon that affects us all and for which it is necessary to generate scientific evidence through academia in order to combat disinformation. 

The Observatory will focus its research on five areas. First, it will study the characteristics and trends of the Iberian digital media ecosystem. It will also develop computational technologies for the early detection of disinformation. In addition, it will verify disinformation in the Iberian territory and create a common platform that will host such disinformation. It will also produce strategic reports on disinformation threats, both for the public and for the authorities in Spain and Portugal, while maintaining its independence. Finally, it will also work on media literacy initiatives aimed at journalists and reporters, young people and society as a whole.

IBERIFIER is composed of

Verifiers and news agencies

Maldita.es

EFE Verifica

Verificat

Polígrafo

Lusa – Portuguese News Agency

Universities

University of Navarra (IP)

University Institute of Lisbon – ISCTE

University of Granada

Carlos III University of Madrid

University of Santiago de Compostela

Polytechnic University of Valencia

Polytechnic University of Madrid

Miguel Hernández University of Elche

University of Valencia – General Studies

University of Aveiro

San Pablo CEU University Foundation

Rey Juan Carlos University

Other research centers

Elcano Royal Institute

FECYT

Barcelona Supercomputing Center – National Supercomputing Center

Protocol Center for Professional Training for Day Workers – Cenjor

OberCom – Communication Observatory

Associação Literacia Para os Media e Jornalismo – Association Literacy for Media and Journalism

IBERIFIER is one of eight digital media and disinformation observatories recently approved by the European Commission. The other seven are the Ireland Hub, from Dublin City University (Ireland); EDMO BE/NL, from Stichting Nederlands Institute voor Beeld en Geluid (Netherlands); Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO), from Univerzita Karlova (Czech Republic); NORDIS – NORdic Observatory for Digital Media and Information DISorders, from Aarhus Universitet (Denmark); Belgium-Luxembourg Research Hub on Digital Media and Disinformation (EDMO BELUCOX), from Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium); DE FACTO Observatory of Information, from Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (France); and the Italian Digital Media Observatory, from Luiss Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (Italy).