Credit: EDMO BELUX
The European Digital Media Observatory for Belgium and Luxembourg (EDMO BELUX), a cross country expert hub tackling disinformation, has announced the launch of its website:
https://belux.edmo.eu/.
Belgium and Luxembourg are located at the confluence of multiple communities and cultures. Both capitals of multilingual states and headquarters of European institutions, Brussels and Luxembourg are places where disinformation can spread fast and have a major impact. EDMO BELUX thus considers itself to have a major role to play in fighting disinformation in these territories through:
- a disinformation rapid response network: the platform will provide daily fact-checks, regular analysis and expertise to first responders of disinformation and citizens to better grasp the dangers of disinformation, tools to fight it and factual information;
- a knowledge hub with key resources to better understand disinformation and its impact;
- a strong network of journalists, academics and experts that bring a coherent and collective response to disinformation.
On Tuesday 15 February 2022, EDMO BELUX launched its first actions available for Belgian and Luxembourgish citizens. This included the launch of its new website, where three partners (Agence France Presse, RTL Luxembourg and RTBF) will provide daily fact checks in five languages (English, Dutch, French, Luxembourgish and German).
EDMO BELUX has also launched its social media channels, with its Twitter account (@EDMO_BeLux) providing daily resources on disinformation in Belgium and Luxembourg. On LinkedIn, EDMO BELUX will seek to engage with the numerous experts of both countries to bring a more collective response to disinformation.
In the coming months, the EDMO BELUX hub will:
- publish 800 fact checks in five languages;
- conduct open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations on disinformation campaigns;
- develop and hold media literacy activities at community level in three languages (French, Dutch and Luxembourgish);
- deliver annual cross-community audience studies on impact of disinformation campaigns;
- provide annual assessments of effectiveness of platform responses to disinformation.