PolitiCheck in a Time of Political Turbulence in Bulgaria

Period: 15 August 2026 – 15 February 2027 The project “PolitiCheck in a Time of Political Turbulence in Bulgaria”, with the support of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network, aims to strengthen the accuracy and transparency of public debate during a period of political instability and heightened risks of disinformation. With presidential elections scheduled for October 2026 and increasing political polarization, the project will strengthen Factcheck.bg’s capacity to monitor and verify political claims and identify coordinated disinformation campaigns and manipulation. Factcheck.bg will produce regular political fact-checks (“politichecks”), monitor statements by political actors across institutional, media and social media channels, and further develop its “Lie Meter” to systematically track and assess political claims. The project will also include in-depth investigations into disinformation networks, coordinated inauthentic behaviour and influence operations, including those related to elections and major institutional developments. A dedicated prebunking component will identify high-risk narratives and recurring claims ahead of the presidential elections and provide journalists and the public with accessible, evidence-based briefing materials. The project will distribute verified information through Factcheck.bg’s established network of national and regional media partners, social media and emerging live and hybrid formats, reaching diverse audiences across Bulgaria, with particular attention to regional communities and older citizens. The project is implemented by the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria through Factcheck.bg.

Factcheck.bg - ValidAI

Period: January 2026 – February 2027  The VALIDAI (Verified, Local, and Inclusive Dissemination through AI) project aims to increase the visibility and impact of fact-checking content by using accessible AI tools to adapt verified information for different audiences. The project focuses on three groups particularly vulnerable to disinformation: • youth (18–24); • adults in regional towns (45–64); • older adults (65+). Using publicly available data, trend analysis, and AI-assisted content transformation, the project will test new ways of tailoring fact-checks to the linguistic and platform preferences of these audiences. At least 60 adapted fact-checking pieces will be produced, reaching more than 200,000 people through partner media outlets. The results will be compiled into an open adaptation toolkit that can be used by other fact-checking organisations across Europe. The project runs from 1 January 2026 to 28 February 2027 (14 months) and is funded by the European Union through the European Commission (DG CONNECT) under the Preparatory Action “Network of European fact-checkers to fight disinformation – Boosting the visibility of fact-checking content in Europe.”

Factcheck.bg Reboot in the Anti-Facts Age

Period of Implementation: September 2025 - May 2026 The project aims to strengthen Factcheck.bg’s capacity to counter disinformation while building a sustainable community of supporters through a membership program. It will produce more fact-checks and explanatory content, introduce new technological tools, and develop a special program for training and engaging senior citizens (60+) as contributors in the fight against disinformation. Expected results include greater resilience of media and society against manipulative campaigns, wider use of verified information by journalists, and better protection of vulnerable groups from online fraud. The project is implemented by the Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria (AEJ-Bulgaria) with the support of the Open Society Institute – Sofia and co-funded by the European Union under the Media Resilience: Nurturing Quality News Journalism programme.

SuperFactSociety, European Media and Information Fund

The goal of the "SuperFactSociety" project is to increase public understanding of the disinformation campaigns fueling the political crises in Bulgaria. To achieve this goal, the project will join forces with active representatives of civil society and independent journalists in the production of in-depth fact-checking related to critical events: a chronic political crisis with frequent elections, aggressive disinformation campaigns against civil society leading to legislative changes, and an intensified disinformation war against EU policy. The project includes the preparation of the so-called "prebunking" files - these are publications containing pre-verified information on important topics; preparation of videos related to the verified content; thematic bulletins, on the checks and graphic representation of trends in political disinformation. The project’s period: February 2025 - August 2025.

"Internet detectives - work for the whole family"

The goal of the project "Internet detectives - work for the whole family" is to increase the skills for distinguishing false information and fraud in social networks in three specific groups: young people; parents; citizens aged 60+. Within the framework of the project, representatives of these three groups were trained in basic fact-checking. The trained participants submit claims, videos and content they find on social media to the team. Content is checked by our professional fact checkers. For each information submitted, according to the requirements for verifiable information, participants receive a prize of vouchers for a variety of goods for daily needs. A long-term goal of the project is to develop a program of support from our followers, which will allow the purchase of vouchers for these three groups even after the end of the funding from the Thomson Foundation. The project’s period: December 2024 - June 2025.

Climate Facts Europe

Period: 01.05.2024- 31.10.2025 Factcheck.bg is part of a project of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), for the creation of the Climate Facts Europe database. The project is supported by the European Climate Foundation. The aim is to strengthen cooperation between countries in detecting and combating climate disinformation. Climate Facts Europe is a multi-stakeholder project involving a public database where European citizens can search for facts related to climate misinformation. A system for notifying participating organizations of climate disinformation campaigns is also being launched. Seven organizations part of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) will produce four detailed reports on a monthly basis. The reports will use the information that will be collected in the database and will cover a variety of climate-related topics. More about the project: https://climatefacts.efcsn.com/

Meta's third-party fact-checking program

Period: March 2024 - January 2027 As of March 1, 2024, Factcheck.bg is partnering with Meta on a third-party fact-checking program. Factcheck.bg will review and assess the accuracy of content in Bulgaria, in addition to the work AFP (Agence France-Presse) is already doing in the country. As part of Meta's fight against the spread of misinformation, Meta partners with independent fact-checkers from around the world who review and assess the accuracy of content. When a fact-checker rates a piece of information as untrustworthy, Meta begins to display it further down the news feed, significantly reducing its spread. This prevents the spread of misinformation and reduces the number of people who see it. Pages and domains that re-share misinformation will also see a drop in distribution and will be denied the opportunity to monetize and run ads. When a post is flagged as false information, Meta warns users who see it or attempt to share it that it contains false claims. Fact-checkers do not remove posts, accounts or pages from Facebook or Instagram. Fact-checkers do not take down content - posts, accounts or pages - from Facebook or Instagram. Meta limits the spread of false news and questionable content like clickbait and alerts users, giving them more context about the posts they see. More information: Q&A

European Fact-Checking Standards Network and Google

Factcheck.bg is collaborating in a project with the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) and a coalition of over 40 fact-checking organisations across Europe to create a comprehensive fact-checking database focused on the 2024 European Parliament Elections. The project is supported by Google and was officially launched on 21 March 2024. This first-of-its-kind open database collects and categorises political fact-checks, disinformation debunks, prebunking articles and narrative reports on transcontinental trends reported by a coalition of 40+ fact-checking organisations across Europe in a project known as Elections24Check. It emphasises checks on claims made related to the 2024 European Elections. Users can search and filter for articles in different languages, relating to specific countries and political parties, and pertaining to certain topics, such as climate change and security and defence. The goal is to increase cross-country collaboration and act as a resource for European citizens ahead of the vote in June. As part of the project, statistical information about disinformation trends during the election will become available as organisations input their data, and researchers will have the ability to request access to a full dataset.

Google partnership

The Association of European Journalists - Bulgaria (AEJ) and Google have launched a new partnership as a joint effort to promote media literacy and counter disinformation in Bulgaria. Google’s funding will allow for the scale and reach of Factcheck.bg to grow, which will enable AEJ to enlarge its team, establish at least 5 new partnerships with media outlets and double their online audience (website views and social media followers). At least 96 fact-checks will be made on various actual topics in the framework of the project. The project period is July 2023 - July 2024.

European Parliament: “Project: (Fact)Check and vote!”

Period: December 2023-May 2024 The project objective is to raise awareness and build resilience among first-time voters, but also the general public towards information manipulation related to EE2024 and to help growing the EP’s together.eu community. The strategy will aim to reach and engage first time and young voters, media professionals, civil society organizations representatives and ordinary citizens. For the period of the 6-month project the team will produce and publish on factcheck.bg at least 12 fact-checks, disinformation analysis or prebunking related to the European Elections in 2024 and its repercussions in Bulgaria covering the main anti-EU narratives as monitored by factcheck.bg. The activities include concept developing and providing speakers for 6 fact-checking workshops on EE2024 for first-time voters aimed at increasing their capacity to identify and build resilience towards disinformation related to EU and European elections in 2024, building awareness for the need of fact-checking and increasing media literacy.

European Media and Information Fund

The project “Combat disinformation in a sustainable way - COMDISWAY” is implemented with the financial support of the European Media and Information Fund, managed by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. The sole responsibility of the content lies with Factcheck.bg and does not necessarily reflect the positions of EMIF and the Fund Partners, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute. The project aims to develop a systematic and sustainable strategy to tackle the disinformation in Bulgaria related to critical events. The project rationale is to fight the disinformation with a model that involves prebunking, debunking and updates on the most sensitive topics which, based on our experience, will be part once again of the disinformation landscape. The project’ team will search for disinformation in two ways - in the isolated Bulgarian Facebook groups and through international partnerships (the IFCN, Science+) and other fact-checking platforms (EDMO, EU vs Disinfo). This way, the project will be able to address both local disinformation discourses and major narratives popular in Central and Eastern European countries. For the articles on disinformation about the war in Ukraine and its broader context,Factcheck.bg will continue to translate these articles into Ukrainian and to increase their reach via a partnership with the Ukrainian fact-checker StopFake. StopFake.org will republish Factcheck.bg articles in Ukrainian. It will also provide the team with consultation on Ukrainian topics throughout the whole project cycle.

Detect and Check Disinformation, U.S. Department of State

The project “Boosting the fact checking community in Bulgaria” is implemented in partnership with Poynter institute for media studies and consists of three main activities. In the first the partners developed a fact-checking program and guide designed to equip Bulgarian national and regional journalists and journalism students with the skills to identify disinformation in Bulgaria and to develop effective fact-checking measures to counter it. The next element consists of training 12 fact-checkers from Factcheck.bg and other media to become professional fact-checking trainers. The third element is the fact-checking academy which has two sessions - summer and autumn, to train 100 regional journalists and journalism students.

Countering Disinformation Innovation Fund, U.S. Department of State

The project “Boosting the factchecking capacity of Factcheck.bg” is funded by Counter State Disinformation Innovation Fund and consists of the production of at least 18 actual factchecks on political statements and other disinformation narratives and campaigns in the social and traditional media. The project’s objectives are to increase the speed and depth of fact-checking coverage of critical events in Bulgarian and around the world, such as the war in Ukraine. An additional objective is to create a more trustworthy, robust media environment by providing free and much-needed content on timely issues to Bulgaria’s beleaguered independent media who have limited resources to research and respond to disinformation. The project’s period is 1 October 2022 - 31 March 2023.

NATO Public Diplomacy Programme

Factcheck.bg received funding from the NATO Public Diplomacy Programme to produce 6 fact checks and 4 short videos for the site from October 1 - December 31 2021. The funding is dedicated to supporting fact-checking in NATO member states generally and NATO exercises no influence over the choice of claims to check nor the way in which they are verified. All published reports supported under the program will be clearly marked as such.

Active Citizens Fund

In October 2021 Factcheck.bg started a new project to cultivate a community of scientist fact-checkers and collaborate with Factcheck.bg and its team of journalists. The project is supported by the Active Citizens Fund [ACF] in Bulgaria. Funded by donors Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and administered by the Open Society Institute - Sofia, the goal of the ACF is to foster civil society development. The grant includes developing a methodology for scientific fact-checking; setting up a system to coordinate fact-checking collaborations between scientists and journalists; fact-checking training for scientists; and the production of fact checks to be published on the site. The project ends in October 2023.

European Parliament contract

From May - September 2021, Factcheck.bg implemented the project "DetecDisinfoNet" with funding provided by the European Parliament. The objective was to fund the production and publication of fact-checking on European-wide topics including the pandemic, energy, human rights and foreign policy. All the fact checks published under this grant are clearly marked as such and the European Parliament played no role beyond funding. The editor of Factcheck.bg examines every story assignment for potential conflicts of interest and takes full responsibility for the choice of topics and how they are fact-checked. From December 2021 to July 2022, Factcheck.bg again received financing from the European Parliament for another project whose objective is to build and grow the fact-checking community.

Small Grants Program of the U.S. Embassy

Factcheck.bg received support from the U.S. Embassy Sofia Small Grants Program for fact-checking trainings for journalists, students and activists from January - November 2021. The support also covered the organization of a fact-checking competition on the topic: “Human Rights as a Target of Disinformation Campaigns.” The U.S. Embassy plays no role in any of these activities – editorial, supervisory or otherwise – and they are entirely managed and implemented by Factcheck.bg.