This is how Portugal fights disinformation

Check out this mapping guide, which groups the 14 best initiatives in the Iberian country to boost facts on the ground and in the mind

Have you ever wondered how different European societies deal with the phenomenon of disinformation and fake news? Now, you have the chance to see how this is approached in Portugal after researchers from the Lusofona University (Porto) wrote a mapping guide showcasing the best initiatives from the country dedicated to that issue.

This practical guide was compiled by Maria José Brites, Ana Filipa Oliveira, Margarida Maneta and Vanessa Ribeiro Rodrigues from the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT) at the Lusofona University (Porto). The latter is one of the partners in the pan-European Read Twice (R2) project, the aim of which is to counter disinformation and limit the spread of fake news by enhancing young citizens` skills to assess information critically.

The Portuguese landscape of anti-disinformation crusaders

The mapping guide, which you can also download and read for free here, contains best practices, mostly from the civil sector in the Iberian country. The researchers have found that this sector, together with academia, have taken the lead in countering the spread of misleading information and fake news in our day and age.

The mapping guide contains 14 such examples of various initiatives, which show the scope of capacity and possibility to mitigate harmful propaganda. For the reader, these examples are conveniently divided into 3 initiatives deemed as Top Selection, plus 10+1 additional best practices.

All of these could serve as guidelines and applicable models for other countries, groups, schools and associations, which is where the strength of the mapping guide lies.

The project Read Twice is co-funded by the European Union under the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) program of the European Commission. It is coordinated by Euro Advance Association (Bulgaria) and on top of Lusofona University (Portugal), it involves Se Poate Association (Romania), Udruga Echo (Croatia) and Alliance4Europe (Germany) as partners.