May 12, 2025 On Friday 2 May, Malta woke up to the alarming news that the Conscience, a ship operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, had been attacked some 26km off its eastern coast. The ship was reportedly en route to Gaza, carrying humanitarian aid when it was attacked. The news quickly drew international attention […]
Fact-check Malta: Why was a Gaza-bound aid ship attacked near Malta? Read More »
May 5, 2025 From slashed federal funding for disinformation research to the closure of a key agency combating foreign influence operations, the United States has dismantled vital guardrails against falsehoods within President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office. The moves could have national security implications, experts warn, granting US adversaries such as Russia and
US anti-disinformation guardrails fall in Trump’s first 100 days Read More »
Pope Francis died of a stroke on April 21, 2025, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia (archived here).
AI images of Pope Francis wearing pride flag resurface after his death Read More »
April 23, 2025 A fake news website falsely claimed that Ukraine’s president is paying Western reporters to tarnish US President Donald Trump — part of a series of deceptive reports spread by Russian-linked portals mimicking media outlets. The disinformation tactic, amid heightened international efforts to halt the three-year war with Russia, seeks to undermine both
Hijacking news: Fake media sites sow Ukraine disinformation Read More »
April 14, 2025 Supporters of Malta’s Labour Party are sharing photorealistic AI-generated images in partisan Facebook groups that attempt to portray opposition leader Bernard Grech at a civil society protest in the capital city of Valletta. A protest was held by a number of local NGOs on 2nd April 2025 outside the parliament building in
This X post from March 28, 2025, posted an image of two men, with the one embracing the other and implied in the caption in insulting and homophobic language that the photo depicted Kemal Ataturk and proved he was gay. The post was shared more than 100 times.
Photo shows two African American men in the 1920s, not Turkish politician Read More »
March 13, 2025 A sprawling Russian disinformation network is manipulating Western AI chatbots to spew pro-Kremlin propaganda, researchers say, at a time when the United States is reported to have paused its cyber operations against Moscow. The Pravda network, a well-resourced Moscow-based operation to spread pro-Russian narratives globally, is said to be distorting the output
Russian disinformation ‘infects’ AI chatbots, researchers warn Read More »
March 10, 2025 AI-generated videos are filling social media feeds, and they are looking increasingly real, even if logic suggests otherwise. Take this video, for example, which is currently doing the rounds on Instagram. It appears to show a team of fishermen out at sea hauling a mammoth oyster onto their boat. They proceed to
Fact-check Malta: Fishing for attention – AI-generated videos making waves Read More »
March 10, 2025 The role of the court expert has come under recent scrutiny, following British forensic accountant Jeremy Harbinson’s refusal to travel to Malta to testify in a prominent criminal case. Harbinson is one of the authors of a 1,200 page report into the privatisation of Karin Grech, St Luke’s and Gozo general hospitals
Fact-check Malta: Can a court expert refuse to testify? Read More »
Romania’s constitutional court annulled the presidential election in December 2024 after allegations emerged of Russian meddling in favour of far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, who unexpectedly won the first round after shooting to prominence virtually overnight. On February 26, 2025, Romania indicted Georgescu on charges including making “false statements” over his campaign financing and starting a “fascist, racist or xenophobic organisation”. Georgescu denies wrongdoing. The election is to be rerun in May.
Video shows train crash anniversary rally in Greece, not mass protest in Romania Read More »
The Mediterranean Digital Media Observatory (MedDMO) is an alliance of fact-checkers, media literacy experts and scientists taking a coordinated approach to combating disinformation and misinformation.
This project has received funding from the European Union under Grant Agreement number 101083756. This website reflects the views only of the independent Consortium, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.