EDMO BELUX brings together an experienced and extensive network of fact-checkers, disinformation analysts, media literacy organisations and academics to detect, analyse and mitigate harmful disinformation campaigns. The project focuses on disinformation that targets Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as the European Union at large.
The fact-checking team of EDMO BELUX is dedicated to two main tasks. First, it produces a continuous flow of fact-checks in three languages: French, Luxembourgish, and German. Second, it also produces longer, in-depth investigations on disinformation campaigns and phenomena, in French and Luxembourgish (see our “Focus” section).
The team brings together fact-checkers from AFP, RTL Luxembourg, RTBF and DPA.
AFP, a global leader in digital verification, is a signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) code of principles. These include a commitment to: non-partisanship and fairness, transparency of sources, transparency of funding and organisation, transparency of methodology and an open and honest corrections policy. AFP’s work is carried out by fact-checking editors and a worldwide network of journalists, following the editorial standards and key guiding principles of the AFP global news agency. As well as traditional journalism skills, AFP uses a number of simple tools to verify online information, some common sense and a lot of caution. Starting out with a specific question, AFP seeks to investigate and report dubious stories and claims that may or may not end up on our newswires. It seeks non-partisan, publicly available information in its investigations, and links to it online. AFP’s journalists monitor online content in local languages, from Amharic to Hindi, German or Dutch. They take into account local cultures, languages and politics and work with AFP’s bureaus worldwide to investigate and disprove false information, focusing on items that can be harmful, impactful and manipulative.
RTL Luxembourg provides fact-checks for the local territory. RTL’s newsroom is made up of professional and experienced journalists working for the public service TV news channel RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg and radio station RTL Radio Lëtzebuerg, as well as for the leading news media in Luxembourg, the digital platform RTL.lu. RTL Luxembourg has set up high standards for its news coverage, defined by a clear editorial line, an ethics code for all journalists and an independent ethics board. Special standards and workflows are applied for the fact-checking team of journalists.
RTBF (Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française), the Belgian French-speaking national media public service provides fact-checked articles regarding information circulating on social networks. It also analyses certain public statements to decipher their content in order to enlighten readers on their veracity. Before publishing a fact-check article, we verify sources within the Belgian French media community. The fact-checked articles published are co-ordinated by a dedicated editorial team comprising of various journalists, experts in their field.
DPA (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) is one of the leading independent press agencies in the world. Over the years, its fact-checking editorial team has grown into an internationally operating unit with around 30 well-trained, specialized journalists, producing more than 2,000 fact checks per year. The team is spread across various European countries, with editorial offices in Berlin and Brussels publishing fact checks in French, Dutch and German. Its work is audited and certified by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) of the Poynter Institute and the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) on a regular basis. Strict internal rules ensure compliance with the highest standards: for example, readers of the dpa fact checks will always be able to see from the (also archived) links which sources an assessment is based on. The proven dual-control principle of agency journalism, intensive exchange within the international team and individual specializations ensure the highest possible quality in debunking disinformation.
On the homepage of this website, a rubric highlighting an ‘Editor’s choice’ fact- check is included. This fact-check is selected because of its depth and quality, or its link to breaking news. The flow of fact-checks is continuously archived in our fact-checking Archives. This repository offers visitors of the website the opportunity to navigate past fact-checks and to observe any evolving patterns or narratives.