A European Commission call for tender has confirmed a European University Institute-headed consortium as the lead of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). In the next 30 months, EDMO will intensify its efforts against the rising challenges of online disinformation, including the war in Ukraine. And we are delighted to announce that the Media & Learning Association has joined forces with EDMO II to broaden efficient media literacy activities, alongside the University of Amsterdam with its Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR), which will strengthen EDMO with its long-standing tradition in media and communication research and the Brussels Europe MediaLab (Fondation EURACTIV), which will contribute especially to strategy and co-operation with third-part organisations.
Since its launch in June 2020, EDMO has built the technical means and infrastructure to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange between researchers, fact-checkers, and policymakers. The network has become a reference point for facts, evidence, and tools in the European community tackling disinformation. Within EU member states, EDMO works with national and regional hubs: to implement activities tackling disinformation at the grassroots level. The 14 hubs cover all 27 EU Member States and Norway. January 2023 will mark the start of activities of six new EDMO Hubs, which will tailor the network’s mission to the local specificities and vulnerabilities of the various European digital spaces.
Among the many new activities in the next phase of EDMO, the network will detect, analyse and counter disinformation campaigns in the 27 member states ahead of the European elections in 2024.
Sally Reynolds, Member of the new EDMO Executive Board and MLA Chief Operations Officer, commented: “We are really delighted to be involved in EDMO going forward which acknowledges the ever-increasing role of media literacy in the fight against disinformation. No matter how much is done to stop the spread of disinformation, we will always be at the mercy of its purveyors until we can build resilience amongst all European citizens through effective media literacy campaigns, educational programmes and learning opportunities. The EDMO network of hubs across Europe provides us with the means to operationalise such campaigns at local and national level while learning and sharing best practice across boundaries. Truly an ideal situation going forward.”
More information about EDMO II
