Global Voices condemns the attacks on Albanian fact-checking service Faktoje

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Faktoje is a respected member of the international fact-checking community

Since October 27, at least 20 online media outlets and social media accounts in Albania have been waging a coordinated attack against the staff of fact-checking media service Faktoje Center, based in Tirana. A partner of Global Voices, Faktoje has been promoting accountability based on the right to information and transparency since 2018.

Faktoje and its team members, in particular its director, Klodiana Kapo, are facing a series of coordinated attacks from media outlets that have been circulating and reproducing articles that question Faktoje’s funding, financial management and independence, using its publicly available financial statements to cast doubt on the organisation’s credibility.

Faktoje is a certified signatory of the Code of Principles of the International Fact-Finding Network and the Code of Standards of the European Fact-Checking Standards Network. Both require high levels of public transparency in disclosing sources of funding and methodologies of work. This coordinated campaign aims to undermine the impact of Faktoje’s important work by maliciously using financial information that the organization voluntarily publishes, but stripping it of context and mischaracterizing its influence.

Faktoje considers these attacks to be directly connected to its fact-checking activities under its partnership with Meta, in the context of its recent fact-checking work covering the ongoing protests and debunking misleading narratives targeting protesters.

Since its inception eight years ago, Faktoje has stood at the forefront of the fight for freedom of expression, independent journalism, and information integrity in Albania and the wider Balkans region, including participation in the regional Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Hub, the Anti-Disinformation Network for the Balkans and the continent-wide European Digital Media Observatory – EDMO Network.

Faktoje is a respected member of the international fact-checking community. Albanian authorities and European institutions need to speak up publicly for independent fact-checkers and journalists, and to ensure their safety, while media outlets reporting on civil society funding need to do so accurately and in context.

Global Voices joins the European Fact-Checking Standards Network and the International Fact-Checking Network in vehemently condemning those attacks on our partner. We stand in solidarity with our colleagues.

Source: Global Voices ↗