Google News Initiative, the Association of European Journalists Bulgaria (AEJ) and FactCheck.bg are launching a new partnership to combat election disinformation. Data for Good and the Coalition for Fair Elections – two non-profits with a strong track record in fighting misinformation and monitoring electoral fraud – have also joined the common effort to provide Bulgarian citizens with credible and verified information during elections.
This marks the second collaboration between Google and one of Bulgaria’s largest journalistic organizations, following a successful initiative last year that supported fact-checking efforts and fostered the growth of young journalists.
Since 2021, Bulgaria has faced elections every year—sometimes more than one round of general elections. On October 27, Bulgarians will head to the polls for the tenth time in just three years, across various types of elections. This is not only a European record but also an alarming trend for Bulgaria’s political party system. The ongoing cycle of elections has plunged the country into a near-constant campaign mode, creating many challenges in the fight against disinformation.
Strong journalism is the best defence against malinformation. However, the work of robust, independent media is challenging in a small, fragmented media market like Bulgaria’s. For that reason, we are forming a larger coalition against disinformation, inviting journalists from national and local outlets, big and small, to collaborate with top experts in election security and data analysis.
We launched the common initiative with a one-day pre-election workshop on October 24 with journalists from over ten Bulgarian media and disinformation and electoral experts from Factcheck.bg and the Coalition for Fair Elections.
During the workshop, we studied existing narratives and analyzed previous fake and manipulative stories that have impacted the electoral process in Bulgaria.
Daniel Rzasa, Google News Lab Lead, CEE kicked off the meeting by presenting successful election fact checking coalitions from countries varying from the Philippines to Croatia. Taking into account Bulgaria’s specific political and media context, the journalists discussed possible fields for wider collaboration for likely future elections and major political processes with big disinformation potential.
