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Our Approach

Monitoring disinformation as it happens

Assessing the impact of disinformation and disinformation responses through research and investigative work Edmo-Belux aims to tackle disinformation campaigns through research and investigative work.

The partners in the project collaborate in order to:

  • Monitor the financial viability of the news media sector in Belgium and Luxembourg and produce a monitoring matrix incorporating indicators related to advertising and subscription revenues, (in)direct public support and philanthropy. The data will be gathered through publicly available financial reports, policy documents and expert interviews with representatives of media organisations in (Dutch- and French-speaking) Belgium and Luxembourg.
  • Assess the impact of disinformation campaigns on society and democratic processes through quantitative surveys and qualitative in-depth interviews. The reception of disinformation campaigns will be studied from both a supply (content) and demand (audience characteristics and interpretive practices) perspective, accounting for the way in which the cultural, political and media contexts of the three communities (Dutch speaking Belgium, French-speaking Belgium, Luxembourg) shape people’s relation with disinformation and democratic engagement in the public sphere(s).
  • Analyse the effectiveness of platform policies to counter disinformation. Taking into account the assessments of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA) and the European Commission on the Code of Practice on Disinformation, the preparations for the Digital Services Act and the European Democracy Action Plan, and after consultation with ministries and media regulators, we will assess the policies and practices of major online platforms against the commitments in the Code of Practice on Disinformation.
  • Investigate whether the disinformation observed has been used by malicious groups to deliberately influence the public debate or political processes. The task will perform open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations on disinformation campaigns across a variety of platforms, identify trends, threats and possibly actors, and thoroughly describe the latest activities identified.