Over the course of a successful second year of activities, the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF) has supported 40 projects dedicated to combating disinformation across Europe and awarded a total of 6.4 million euros.
To highlight the significant impact that both the fund and its granted projects have achieved, EMIF held at the Press Club Brussels Europe on the 30 June its Summer Event in Brussels titled “Countering Disinformation During the Rise of AI: Reflecting on 2 Years of EMIF’s Impact”. During this event, EMIF shared the impact of its work during the Fund’s second year (2022/2023) of operation through presenting its Annual Progress Report, External Evaluation Report, and showcasing of a diverse choice of its granted projects.
Against the backdrop of the fast-paced developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies and their influence on the information ecosystem, a few select grantees demonstrated how they have effectively countered the harmful effects of AI-generated disinformation or, instead, have leveraged AI to combat fake news online.
Some of the showcased projects utilise machine learning for social network analysis, providing valuable insights into disinformation networks, while other innovative initiatives employ extended reality (XR) games to enhance media literacy among students, equipping them with the skills to detect deep fakes. EMIF-funded project Escape Fake 2.0 will give a demonstration of their XR games throughout the entire event with in a special XR room set-up for attendees to interact with.