The EFCSN Project publishes the results of the Open Consultation that will inspire the European Standards Code for fact-checkers and research organizations with open sources

This Code will set out the ethical, methodological, transparency and other core principles that an Open Source Verification or Investigation Operation (known as OSINT) must adhere to in order to be recognized as independent in Europe.

49 organizations from 26 European countries participated in the survey

The report published by the EFCSN gathers the opinions and views of 49 open source research and fact-checking organizations from 26 European countries, as well as academic researchers and other stakeholders such as social media platforms, media associations and civil society groups. It also includes interviews and comments from 17 experts in the field of disinformation, who have participated in the creation of other journalistic ethical codes or who are part of a media regulatory body.

The results of the Open Consultation will serve as a basis for the drafting of the future Code of European Standards for Verification and Investigation Operations based on Open Sources. A first draft of this code will be presented this June in Oslo (Norway), where it will be subject to debate between the organizations of the EFCSN Consortium, led by Maldita.es, and 15 other European verification organizations chosen on behalf of the community by its members.

The Code will then be discussed, amended and ultimately approved by Europe’s open source fact-checking and research community, involving more than 50 organizations, before its final publication in September this year.

A code that, according to those surveyed, should serve as a guide for European data verification and open source research organizations

96% of the organizations surveyed consider that the Code should be a guide with general principles that define the good practices that an open source verification or research organization should follow.

Although the 50 organizations that have responded to the consultation affirm that the European Code of Standards should reflect aspects of other existing ethical codes, such as the IFCN for fact-checkers or the Berkeley Protocol, for organizations that carry out research with open sources, 92% support that the future European Code should improve or include aspects that these codes do not cover.

Respondents opt for a clear, public methodology that focuses on the public interest

The organizations surveyed also agree by a large majority on issues related to the methodology used to verify the content they publish: more than 90% consider that this should be clear, public and accessible to readers.

Providing a channel for the public to send organizations content that may be subject to investigation, ensuring that fact-checks and investigations are peer-reviewed before publication, or providing at least two (preferably more) sources in verifications and that these are named and cited -unless doing so would compromise the source- as well as non-partisanship, are statements endorsed by more than 80% of the participating organizations.

A large majority of respondents also support aspects such as transparent communication of the structure of those who make up the organization or who are responsible for decision-making, as well as their accounts; a transparent and clear error correction policy; or that agreements with platforms are public.

Likewise, the Open Consultation reflects that there are areas in which the organizations do not agree and that, therefore, must be debated, such as the fact that investigative operations with open sources can work with government intelligence agencies (supported by 47 .5% of respondents), or that organizations must publicly declare the goods and services they receive from abroad for free, including subscriptions, tools or software (45% consider that their publication should not be mandatory).

You can download the report on the results of the Open Consultation by clicking this link .

This project arises from the Call of Integrity of Social Media of the European Commission and is led by six European organizations focused on the fight against disinformation: Fundación Maldita.es (Spain), AFP (France), CORRECTIV (Germany), DEMAGOG (Poland ), Pagella Politica / Facta (Italy) and EU DisinfoLab (Belgium).