Fact-Checking Day 2026: Wars and Geopolitical Instability – a Challenge for Fact-Checkers Around the Worl

Fact-checkers and all those advocating to preserve the integrity of information in the public sphere are marking April 2 today – the International Fact-Checking Day (#FactCheckingDay), which this year is overshadowed by wars that, as is well known, are no friends of facts and truth.

The first International Fact-Checking Day was launched by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in 2016, with the aim of celebrating and highlighting the work of fact-checkers around the world, and it has been observed every year since. The International Fact-Checking Network began with just a dozen member organizations, and today it includes more than 180 organizations worldwide.

In North Macedonia, a full and certified member of this network since 2019 is the Metamorphosis Foundation (metamorphosis.org.mk) together with the fact-checking portal Truthmeter.mk (truthmeter.mk). Since 2023, Metamorphosis and Truthmeter.mk have also been certified members of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN), based in Brussels, Belgium, and other Metamorphosis outlets are actively involved in fact-checking as well, including the Meta.mk News Agency (meta.mk) and the Albanian-language news portal Portalb.mk (portalb.mk).

Over the past year, Metamorphosis outlets have produced nearly 1,000 fact-checks, including debunks of spin and manipulations expressed by participants in the creation of public policies, as well as assessments of the fulfillment of political parties’ pre-election promises.

Wars, which by their very nature blur, conceal, and distort truth and facts, have in recent times, as well as at present, been one of the main topics in the media. The war in Ukraine, following Russia’s aggression against its peace-loving neighbor, has now lasted for more than four years with no hope of a ceasefire. After last year’s airstrike on Iran, when nuclear facilities and research centers in the country were bombed during the summer by Israel and the United States, we are now witnessing an expanded replay, one that carries a serious risk of turning into a full-scale military invasion and has already spread across the entire region. The speed at which this conflict has expanded matches the speed at which

disinformation stemming from it spreads. Simply put, the more countries and people are directly or indirectly affected by the military conflict, the more disinformation, manipulation, and half-truths begin to circulate in the public sphere.

Unlike at the very beginning of the conflict, when there was noticeable misuse of visual materials such as photos and video clips from earlier conflicts, falsely presented as current in order to portray the other side as criminal, we are now witnessing entire disinformation narratives being pushed through constant and repetitive false claims. The aim is to reframe unfavorable news and information in the media and present events in a light benefiting those promoting such narratives to the public. This is often done by highly positioned state officials or influential circles, who are regularly cited by global media and whose disinformation efforts reach the wider public far more easily than fact-checkers do.

When it comes to disinformation and harmful Foreign Interference, Manipulation, and Information (FIMI) operations originating from the Kremlin, which in recent years have been a major challenge for fact-checkers, there has recently been a noticeable decline in intensity. However, existing disinformation narratives targeting Ukraine, the West and its institutions such as the EU and NATO, as well as the glorification of Russia and Putin, still persists. What should be kept in mind, though, is that despite this reduced intensity, due in part to the long-term strain on Russia’s state finances caused by the need to boost military spending, the Kremlin continues to use every opportunity it can to inflict harm on NATO and EU member states, including in the sphere of disinformation.

Besides wars, another serious challenge for fact-checkers is the increased use of artificial intelligence to spread disinformation. Unlike the past two to three years, when AI-generated disinformation mainly came from abroad and was therefore easier to uncover, as we predicted, the use of AI in producing disinformation is increasingly domestic, or local. An explosion of such locally produced AI disinformation is expected in 2027-28. In any case, an increasing number of photos, often used primarily to drive clicks or sell products, such as medicines, are coming from domestic users, and this trend is certain to continue.

Online scams, particularly those spreading through social media, have recently experienced a kind of “mini-renaissance” with both the variety and frequency of scams on the rise. Most of these scams are familiar and have been seen before, but what is increasing is their intensity and number. It has now become difficult to avoid fraudulent content when using social media. Even basic clickbait scams, designed solely to get users to click on links that generate revenue, are making a comeback, even though until a year or two ago they were largely overshadowed by crypto scams and the sale of fake medicines. These “sellers” were among the first to use artificial intelligence, as well as international scams run by global scam “factories” based in the Far East.

Political disinformation, which has been a primary focus of Truthmeter.mk and other Metamorphosis Foundation outlets since 2011, remains highly relevant. Although the situation is far and incomparably better compared to the political crisis of the last decade (2011-2017), a number of problems related to disinformation among political actors persist. Pre-election promises by political parties regularly lack deadlines for fulfillment, and many unfulfilled promises are simply carried over into new party programs with each election cycle. As for party press releases, it is not uncommon for disinformation to appear in them. In politicians’ statements, the most common issues are manipulations in which the truth is stretched, omitted, concealed, obscured, misused, or distorted.

This year, International Fact-Checking Day is being observed under the slogan “We Stand for Facts!” (#WeStandForFacts), and the International Fact-Checking Network will present its latest annual report on the state of fact-checking, the State of the Fact-Checkers Report.

#FactsMatter #FactCheckingDay

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