United against disinformation

Disinformation and manipulated information threaten democratic societies. They undermine trust in democratic institutions, fuel social conflicts and can become a danger for individuals – for example, when false information about medical treatments is spread. Disinformation can also impact upcoming elections, such as national elections in Austria and the election of the European Parliament in 2024, as well as upcoming federal state elections in Germany.

At GADMO, fact-checkers and academic researchers from Germany and Austria collaborate to counter potentially harmful disinformation campaigns in the media, social networks and on messenger platforms, including disinformation peddled top-down by pernicious organised

agents or bottom-up through viral falsehoods. GADMO is independent, non-partisan and free of commercial interests.

Primarily, GADMO pursues the following goals:

1. Make fact checks in the German language more accessible to the public and assemble them in a unified repository. All previously published factchecks can be found here.
2. Identify disinformation campaigns and scientifically investigate their modes of operation, dissemination patterns, reach and impact. The GADMO research team also supports the work of the fact-checkers by, for example, examining how artificial intelligence can best be used to improve the verification of disinformation and misinformation. 
3. Promote media literacy in Germany and Austria. The GADMO team teaches both citizens and journalists in workshops and through materials provided skills to verify claims faster and better. 
4. Monitor whether digital platforms and social networks are doing enough in the fight against disinformation. Details can be found here.