EDMO Briefs

Disinformation produced or manipulated with artificial intelligence rose sharply in December 2025, according to the 55th EDMO Brief published by the European Digital Media Observatory. Out of 1,605 fact-checking articles published across Europe, 16% focused on content created or altered using AI tools. The figure marks a new record and suggests that artificial intelligence is no longer a marginal factor, but a central driver of online disinformation.

The November fact-checking brief of EDMO points to a clear shift in how disinformation is being produced and shared. Pro-Russian and xenophobic narratives are increasingly amplified through generative AI, making false content easier to produce, quicker to spread, and often more convincing.

The EDMO October briefing shows that false claims about migration and the situation in the Middle East, especially Gaza, were among the most widespread during the month.

The October edition of the EDMO Monthly Brief highlights how disinformation across Europe continued to revolve around the war in Ukraine, migration issues, and narratives challenging the EU’s credibility for month September.

September 18, 2025 The most targeted topic by disinformation in the month of August according to EDMO, has been climate change, in line with the growing trend registered the past month. Additionally, false news related to the war in Ukraine and to the European Union have also increased, as it happened with disinformation on the

Misinformation about migrants increased by five percentage points in July compared to June, according to the EDMO brief.

The most heavily disinformation-driven topic in June 2025 was the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, which also contributed to a significant increase in AI-generated disinformation.

Fake news related to either the war in Gaza or Covid-19 was on the rise in May 2025, according to EDMO data. At the same time, fake news about the war in Ukraine and the EU remained the main areas of disinformation during this month.

The topics from which disinformation originates in Europe appear to have stabilized in April 2025, according to data collected by EDMO.

Disinformation related to the war in Ukraine reached its highest level in the last two years, according to data from EDMO fact checkers for March 2025.

A slew of false or misleading statements were made by US President-elect Donald Trump and other members of his administration in February 2025.

Disinformation about climate change and migration gained ground in January 2025, according to data from EDMO’s fact-checking network.

Disinformation about Syria saw a sharp rise in December, in the wake of the overthrow of the Assad regime by the country’s opposition forces.
The majority of false claims circulating on EU social media were clickbait and included the use of out-of-context images

Malicious disinformation narratives about the devastating floods that hit southern Spain in late October 2024 continued to circulate and increase their impact across the EU.

The war in the Middle East emerged as the most targeted topic by false stories in October, followed by false stories exploiting climate disasters.

Malicious misinformation about the US Elections and immigration were the top two thematic areas that EDMO network detected throughout September 2024, according to the corresponding brief.

A clear rise in migration-related disinformation narratives was recorded by the European Digital Media Observatory in August, with related reports accounting for 9% of the total, up from 7% in July.

Malicious disinformation about the EU has reached its highest levels since May 2023. It represents a percentage corresponding to 15% of the total disinformation issues recorded in May 2024.

June 3, 2024 22% of all misinformation recorded in the month of April 2024 was equally about the European Union and climate change (each one at 11%). From the brief published by EDMO and which is based on the analysis of 1,716 articles, it appears that the disinformation about the war between Israel and Hamas

EDMO has published its latest monthly fact-checking brief, focusing on Macron’s words and Crocus’ terrorist attack boost disinformation about Ukraine.

March 21, 2024 Disinformation about the war in Ukraine increased by a few percentage points, going from 7% in January to 10% the following month. Disinformation about immigration and disinformation about the EU also increased, even if more moderately. View the month’s monthly report as compiled by EDMO’s fact-checking team here.

February 19, 2024 The European Digital Media Observatory has identified the increase in disinformation related to the farmers’ protests in many countries of the European Union in January – following smaller rallies in the previous months. As noted in the relevant January brief, several false reports began to inflate the extent of the protests, using

December 20, 2023 The 32 organizations* part of the EDMO fact-checking network that contributed to this brief published a total of 1.354 fact-checking articles in November 2023. Out of these articles, 349 (26%) focused on the conflict between Israel and Hamas, 72 (5%) on Ukraine-related disinformation; 69 (5%) on COVID-19-related disinformation; 72 (5%) on climate

November 17, 2023 The highest relative percentage of fake news recorded since April 2022 on a single topic in Europe belongs to the Israel-Hamas conflict during October 2023. In particular, 573 cases of fake stories revolved around it, out of a total of 1,576, i.e. a percentage of almost 36%. The most recent similar case

September 21, 2023 Read the analytical findings of EDMO here.

August 28, 2023 Read the analytical findings of EDMO here.

July 19, 2023 Read the analytical findings of EDMO here.

June 15, 2023 The scope of disinformation related to Ukraine and the coronavirus pandemic in May in the European Union continues to move steadily, while cases of disinformation related to climate change continue to increase. This is the central conclusion of the information note of the European Digital Media Observatory for the month of May,

May 17, 2023 EDMO’s brief on the types of disinformation in Europe in April was released, with fake news around the coronavirus and the war in Ukraine decreasing significantly and fake news around climate change being stabilised. In particular, of the 1,402 fact-checks published by the 30 organizations cooperating with EDMO, 173 (12%) were related

March 23, 2023 According to the newly released EDMO brief, the devastating earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February, 2023 was major news and, as usually happens with major media stories, disinformation immediately followed. Covid and Ukraine-related disinformation remained stable in Febrouary; on the contrary, the topic of climate change seemed to be dropping.