Clara Jiménez Cruz, CEO of the Maldita.es Foundation and president of the EFCSN Governing Body, said: “This first conference represents a valuable opportunity to bring together members of our network and also to open up to a wider audience that wants to share with European fact-checkers concerns and goals in the fight against disinformation. We will discuss key issues related to ethics and methodology in the work of fact-checking organisations. In addition, we will reflect on critical questions such as the impact of European regulation and its implementation, the challenges that generative AI poses for our work, and a crucial issue for it: the harassment and threats faced by different partners in several countries both within and outside the European Union.”
During the event, the EFCSN will organise several panels on key topics in the European media landscape, such as pre-bunking, the influence of disinformation and the challenges faced by fact-checking organisations, including harassment and threats to their work. Speakers will include leading fact-checkers as well as representatives from platforms and policymakers, such as Maja Sever, President of the European Federation of Journalists.
“This conference is an opportunity for the fact-checking community in Europe to collaborate with each other and with those interested in our work. As a community, we are better equipped to face the growing spread of misinformation and disinformation when we have these opportunities to come together to share knowledge and work towards our common goals,” said Stephan Mündges, coordinator of the EFCSN.
The event will also include a meeting of the partners of the FactCRICIS project, an initiative led by the EFCSN, with the participation of Maldita.es and co-funded by the European Union. The project focuses on creating a database of climate experts and an AI-driven repository of fact-checks.
The First Annual EFCSN Conference will take place at the nhow Brussels Bloom hotel starting at 10:00 AM, and registration is free. Registration is available at: efcsn.com/conference-2024/.