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The  2nd European Congress on Disinformation and Fact-Checking: 

Beyond 2025: Emerging threats and solutions in the global Information ecosystem

29 & 30 October 2025

About the congress

The 2nd European Congress on Disinformation and Fact-Checking, organized by UC3M MediaLab was financially supported by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the HealthComm Project and the European Commission through the Jean Monnet’s European Union, Disinformation and Fake News Project. Held on October 29-30, 2025, the congress aimed to address the growing challenges of disinformation in Europe and the world exacerbated by recent events  -wars and political unrest- and advancement in technology. It brought together a diverse group of experts, scholars, journalists, policymakers, and practitioners to engage in meaningful discussions, share insights, and explore innovative strategies for combating disinformation and enhancing fact-checking practices.

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The 2025 conference attracted an impressive 428 participants from 58 countries across six continents — Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, Africa, and South America — marking it the most internationally diverse editions to date. The highest participation came from Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Poland, and the United States, underscoring the event’s strong European and transatlantic engagement.

 

The conference received 127 abstract submissions, out of which 86 were accepted after a rigorous peer-review process. Presentations and discussions spanned a wide range of interdisciplinary topics, including Global case studies spanning Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia, and Asia; Artificial intelligence and algorithmic accountability; Disinformation in elections, war, and crisis contexts; Climate, health, and vaccine misinformation; Fact-checker collaboration and digital platforms; Cognitive warfare, propaganda, and national security as well as Cultural and psychological dimensions of fake news.

 

The conference facilitated cross-border dialogue, promoting knowledge exchange and collaboration among participants. The congress not only highlighted the multifaceted impact of disinformation on the media landscape and democratic societies but also strengthened a network of professionals dedicated to fostering a media ecosystem that upholds transparency, accountability, and democratic values.

The Conference
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Our Program

We are pleased to introduce you to a cast of world-renowned speakers, whose unique experience, knowledge, and insights will provide participants with a profound and enriching perspective on the most important topics of our time. Below, you will find a gallery of our distinguished speakers.

(Online) CET - Madrid time zone

13:00 – 13:15 Welcoming

 

13:15 – 14:15 Journalism versus Populism: EU Communication in the Face of the Disinformation Pandemic

Moderator: Jorge Tuñón Navarro, Full Professor and Jean Monnet holder, Madrid University Carlos III, Spain

  • Media Coverage of European Affairs in the Post-Truth Era. Raquel Ruiz Incertis, University Carlos III, Spain

  • European Responses to Disinformation. Luis Bouza, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

  • Journalism and Fact-Checking Against Disinformation. Rocío Sánchez del Vas, University Carlos III, Spain

  • The Future of European Journalism in Times of Populism and Disinformation. Jorge Tuñón, University Carlos III, Spain

 

14:15 – 15:00 Misinformation, Disinformation and Hate Speech on migrants and refugees

Moderator: Uxía Carral, Assistant Professor, Madrid University Carlos III, Spain

  • The information integrity toolkit. Paula Barrachina, UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency

  • Reputational crisis and generation of counter-narratives. Israel Doncel, Madrid University Carlos III, Spain

 

15:00 - 15:15 Coffee break (you are welcome to watch the recorded presentations, click here!)

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15:15 – 16:30 Politics in the Age of Disinformation: The Role of Fact-Checking

Moderator: Mariola Moreno, Postdoctoral Researcher, MediaLab, Madrid University Carlos III, Spain

  • Sports as Politics: Russia’s Disinformation Efforts During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Natasia Kalajdziovski & Sam Collard, SecAlliance, United Kingdom

  • Colonialism and racial science as misinformation and disinformation. Holly Randell-Moon, Charles Sturt University, Australia

  • Identifying disinformation via coherence-driven inference. Ludmilla Huntsman & Steve Huntsman, Cognitive Security Alliance, USA

  • Disinformation and political polarization – fact-checking examples from the ATENA Project. Miran Čoklo, Institute for Migration Research, Zagreb, Croatia

  • Countering Disinformation Efforts during the General Elections in Kenya:  Identifying Challenges with Fact-checking Initiatives. Katerina Tsetsura, University of Oklahoma, USA

  • When lies become threats. The Securitization of disinformation in the European Union. Patricia del Castaño Portillo, University of the Basque Country, Spain

 

16:30 – 17:45 Disinformation and the Media: Fact-Checking in the Fight for Truth

Moderator: Felipe Nuñez, Predoctoral Researcher, MediaLab, Madrid University Carlos III, Spain

  • To Scroll or to Trust? The New Battleground of Truth on Social Media. Margarida Raposo Alves. Universidade Fernando Pessoa, Portugal

  • Designing effective media literacy modules. Insights from a pilot course for over 50 Romanian high school students. Loredana Bertisan-Pop. Babes-Bolyai University, Romania

  • How Right-Wing Media Sabotaged a Judge’s Appointment: The Brosius-Gersdorf Disinformation Campaign. Marten Neelsen. Communications Consultant, Author and Speaker, Germany

  • War reporters and disinformation: professional practices, security risks, and strategic responses in conflict zones? Klervi Le Collen, Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, France

  • Children Learning About the Climate Crisis and Disinformation: A Forest School Case Study. Flavia Ferreira Santos, Iconnect Lab - Unesco, Portugal

  • Users' perceptions of information manipulation by bots on X:  the case of the Covid-19 health crisis. Thuy Duong Dang, Sarah Theroine, Gilles Brachotte, Alex Frame, and Laurent Gautie, Université Bourgogne Europe, France

 

17:45 - 18:00 Coffee break (you are welcome to watch the recorded presentations, click here!)

 

18:00 – 19:15 Fighting Fakes: The Power and Limits of Fact-Checking

Moderator: Ojonimi Alfred, Predoctoral researcher, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain

  • The Gossiping Machine: Ethical Tensions in AI-Assisted Verification Systems as Information Ecosystem Actors, Hanna Gawel, Jagiellonian University, Poland

  • The epistemic community of fact-checkers: a case study on the meaning-making of audience engagement in a platformized public sphere. Francesco Maria Parente, Independent, Italy

  • Sustainability and visibility: rethinking fact-checking beyond platform funding. Luca Serafini; Mauro Bomba; Laurens Lauer, University of Florence; Sapienza University of Rome; University of Zurich, Italy / Switzerland

  • MonitorIA: An AI-Powered Tool for Early Detection of Disinformation on Telegram. Fco. Javier Cantón Correa, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja, Spain

  • Enabling European Fact-Checker Cooperation Through the DISINFOX Platform. Teresa García de Alcaraz Ruiz, Universidad de Murcia, Spain

  • The Parallel Battlefield: How Disinformation and Bots Shaped Narratives in the 12-Day Iran–Israel War. Mahsa Rabipour Dehshali, Media Analyst / Infogram, Iran

 

 

Recorded presentations: 

Note that you can find all these recorded presentations in this YouTube channel

 

Politics in the Age of Disinformation: The Role of Fact-Checking

 

 Disinformation and the Media: Fact-Checking in the Fight for Truth

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Fighting Fakes: The Power and Limits of Fact-Checking

Pictures of the congress

Conference Book (under review)

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Clapping Audience

Organized by

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Supported by

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