The Facts Behind the Campaign: Countering Disinformation in 2025 Croatian Local Elections

The goal of this project is to provide verified and accurate information about local elections, with a particular focus on Zagreb, enabling voters to make informed decisions based on facts. We will focus on countering disinformation spread through social media and anonymous sources, including AI-generated content and manipulations.

We will monitor the online activity of politicians, political parties, and anonymous profiles to investigate potential coordinated disinformation campaigns, with a primary focus on Facebook and TikTok. To ensure effective tracking, we will use AI-powered tools.

Following the elections, we will publish a comprehensive report analyzing disinformation trends and their impact during the campaign, along with a video summarizing the results of our fact-checking and investigative research.

Additionally, we will foster transparent public discussions by organizing a live fact-checked debate on key issues facing Zagreb, such as waste management and traffic. If other media outlets host debates with mayoral candidates, we will fact-check those as well. We will also analyze and compare the political programs of the most prominent candidates, contributing to a more informed public discourse.

The project is implemented from April 1 to August 31, 2025.

The sole responsibility for any content supported by the European Media and Information Fund lies with the author(s) and it may not necessarily reflect the positions of the EMIF and the Fund Partners, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute.