Project Activities

Development of methodologies for the identification and analysis of disinformation;

Co-operation with the Lithuanian and European media, exposing cases of disinformation and educating the general public on how to recognize false news and false narratives manipulating public credibility;

Organization of media literacy courses in Lithuania, preparation of self-study materials and online lessons in Lithuanian.

The DIGIRES project in Lithuania is implemented by the Department of Public Communication of Vytautas Magnus University (VMU) together with the major partner news website Delfi. Small project partners: regional newspaper "Tauragės courier", journalist in Kaunas region Brigita Sabaliauskaitė, NGO "Media4Change".

The long term vision of DIGIRES is developing the only research center of its kind in the Baltic States by 2022 (Watchdog-NGO).

Project tasks

Prepare and develop

Prepare and develop

a sustainability scheme for the new national Lithuanian research hub (a Watchdog-NGO) focused on fact-checking, analysis of online propaganda patterns and toxic narratives, and the impact of disinformation on society.

Map, describe and analyze

Map, describe and analyze

the existing experience (knowledge, methods, apps, algorithms etc.) on disinformation detection in the Baltic region. Create new knowledge through assembling and meta-analysis of existing data and research.

Develop a novel methodological

Develop a novel methodological

approach for disinformation detection, and apply machine- enhanced linguistically sensitive methods to conceptualize Deliberation Quality Index (DQI) to be used in the evaluation of society’s resilience to disinformation.

Exchange good practices

Exchange good practices

disinformation campaigns in Lithuania (and the broader Baltic states region) to stakeholders, including general audiences as well as media and media literacy specialists in any concerned field, through a targeted communication plan.

Expose

Expose

disinformation campaigns in Lithuania (and the broader Baltic states region) to stakeholders, including general audiences as well as media and media literacy specialists in any concerned field, through a targeted communication plan.

Establish a Rapid Response Team

Establish a Rapid Response Team

(RRT) and to develop a Rapid Alert System to immediately react to any detected disinformation case/campaign and contact its target(s). Work out a strategy for establishing a national network of RRTs (news media, other groups/organizations).

Assess

Assess

the level of media literacy of the general audience in Lithuania and establish cooperation with stakeholders (MIL organizations/institutions, Ministries for Education or Culture) for developing a nationally coordinated media literacy education curriculum.

Project objectives

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Mobilise available expertise/knowledge to develop and apply/test innovative machine-empowered and language/semantics focused tools for online disinformation detection.

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Empower news media and journalists with innovative forms of fact-checking and to assist them in exposing fake narratives.

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Produce empirical data-oriented theoretical/conceptual insights into disinfodemics’ proliferation in Lithuania (and the Baltic countries).

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Produce empirical data-oriented theoretical/conceptual insights into disinfodemics’ proliferation in Lithuania (and the Baltic countries). (a) discover and detect misinformation and disinformation, (b) assess (professional) journalistic content and apply verification techniques and strategies, and (c) measure and analyze audiences’ reactions and effects of disinformation.

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Contribute to effectiveness, knowledge and evidence-based capacity building in Lithuania (also, at later stages, in the Baltic region/Europe) to meet the emerging needs for evidence-based education of an informed electorate and resilient citizenship.

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Project Initators

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kurjeris

Project Partners

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