Abstract
In the “post-truth” environment, objective facts lose their weight, while trustworthy information can be substituted for personal beliefs. The situation opens windows of opportunities, not only for sources of propaganda but also for initiatives in opposition to the challenge of disinformation. This chapter presents the case study of DebunkEU.org, an independent technology think tank and nongovernmental organization that analyzes disinformation and aims to improve societal resilience through educational media literacy campaigns. The Lithuanian initiative focuses on disinformation analysis in the Baltic countries and Poland, and works with partners in the United States, Montenegro, and North Macedonia. The roots of DebunkEU.org lie in Demaskuok!, a project run by media group Delfi.lt in 2017–2019, with support from Google’s Digital News Innovation Fund. DebunkEU.org is presented in the chapter as an example of Baltic responses to Russian disinformation and propaganda. This initiative, connected to the grassroots movement of volunteer fact-checkers, or “elves,” has become a national phenomenon.
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Acknowledgment
The author is thankful to the head of DebunkEU.org Viktoras Daukšas and project and communication manager Karina Urbanavičiūtė for information about the organizational structure of DebunkEU.org and the principles of its work.
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Denisenko, V. (2022). Disinformation Analysis and Citizen Activism in the “Post-Truth” Era: The Case of DebunkEU.org. In: Chakars, J., Ekmanis, I. (eds) Information Wars in the Baltic States. The Palgrave Macmillan Series in International Political Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99987-2_9
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