Stopfake.org is the flagship project of non-governmental organization “Media Reforms Center”. The non­governmental organization “Media Reforms Center” is an educational platform, founded by Mohyla School of Journalism at National University of ‘Kyiv­-Mohyla Academy’, which aims to implement high standards of journalism education in Ukraine, raise the level of media literacy, inform about the danger of propaganda and dissemination of fake information in the media.

You can find the information about this on our website - in “About us” section:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

StopFake had been launched on 2014 by the Ukrainian NGO "Media Reform Center" (MRC) and fact-checking is a major activity of this NGO. MRC is founded by Mohyla School of Journalism at National University of "Kyiv­-Mohyla Academy", this is noticed on the https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/  page clearly stating the status of the organisation.

1. On March 2, 2014 Kyiv Mohyla Journalism School and Digital Future of Journalism project lecturers, graduates and students as well as IT specialists, translators launched the StopFake.org factchecking website. StopFake is a flagship project of the non-governmental organization “Media Reforms Center” located in Kyiv, Ukraine. Initially the goal of the project was to verify and refute disinformation and propaganda about events in Ukraine being circulated in the media since Russia’s occupation of Crimea. Eventually the project grew into an information hub where we examine and analyze all aspects of Kremlin propaganda. We not only look at how propaganda influences Ukraine, we also investigate how propaganda impacts other regions, from the European countries to countries of the Global South.

More information about who we are can be found on our website in "About us" section:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

2. 25 full-time and part-time employees:

11 - work for our fact-checking operation (Editor-in-chief; Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Executive Director, 8 fact-checkers)

3 - social media and global engagement editor, technical director and website support team

2 - trainings and project management team

9 - editors of the languages versions of the website

and volunteers

3. StopFake project activities:

Fact checking. Identifying and debunking fake information about events in Ukraine.

Key area of work for StopFake is verifying facts about events in Ukraine and debunking disinformation that appears in Russian media. We also do fact-check political/social claims and issues, economics/financial claims and issues, health related claims and issues, manipulated user generated photos, manipulated user generated videos.

Trainings on fighting anti-democratic propaganda and disinformation, on fact-checking and information verification.

The StopFake team trains lecturers, journalists, students, civil activists and other professionals to verify information. Our experts conduct training and workshops on fact checking both in Ukraine and abroad.

Media research

Constantly monitoring Russian propaganda, the StopFake team creates a platform for research on informational influences. In our website we have a section “Research” where we post links to available research in the field as well as our own analysis.

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/category/doslidzhennya/

https://www.stopfake.org/en/category/research/

https://www.stopfake.org/ru/category/issledovaniya/

Media Literacy

In order to draw the attention of Ukrainian audiences to the problem of media literacy and to encourage more critical consumption and evaluation of the media, we launched an information campaign that includes production and broadcasting of video explainers that contribute to raising the level of media literacy for audiences in different languages.

A national media literacy campaign in partnership with Facebook. (2019 - for now). The content of the campaign was to promote 9 media literacy tips developed by the British FullFact community of fact-checkers https://fullfact.org/toolkit/ on StopFake's Facebook page.

The main activities of StopFake also included:

Before the full-scale invasion StopFake was producing weekly 10-minute video digests (StopFakeNews) in Ukrainian, Russian and English.

It contained information about the fakes that the team exposed during the week, as well as ways to debunk the propaganda. They were distributed via YouTube, as well as many regional TV channels:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/category/video-uk/

https://www.stopfake.org/ru/category/video/

https://www.stopfake.org/en/category/videos/

After the invasion started due to the operational limitations, we transformed our format into StopFake’s short explainer videos in different languages.

They eхlain bigger disinfo narratives our team exposed, as well as ways to debunk the propaganda. They are distributed via Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Telegram and were released in Ukrainian, Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Bulgarian. (May - November, 2022).

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=707668000381438

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1260820944736479 (in English)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFu-duW8oN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtpOE774Llw (in Ukrainian)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrqNZY96Pf0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2tVJRDzyCY (in Russian)

An information project "Clean Brain" ("Чистий мозок"). During the COVID-19 pandemia StopFake started to cooperate with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to produce weekly digests, introducing a wider audience to the most popular fakes on health and medicine. The aim of the project was to mitigate the spread of false information on health and to minimize harm from informational "sensations". Weekly publications were distributed via Facebook, Twitter and Telegram. Leading doctors and specialists in the field of healthcare in Ukraine and around the world shared their expertise and helped to debunk fakes. (2021 - Feb.24, 2022)

Also StopFake has foreign language desks in 14 languages for analyzing disinformation and explaining to the audience the principles of media manipulation, propaganda technologies and fake news.

In 2022 StopFake launched a Turkish language edition. With the beginning of Russian invasion of Ukraine the StopFake team strengthened its activities in the field of debunking fakes and fighting against Russian disinformation.

Also at the bottom of the site there is a link to our detailed 2021-2022 Report: https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

 4. Since 2014 StopFake has been monitoring the Russian media, we debunked thousands of fakes and collected a huge evidence base. Together with other journalists we joined the initiative, the main goal of which is to bring the propagandists who spread disinformation, hate speech and lies to justice. We believe that every participant of the information warfare against Ukraine must be punished.

Also a priority for StopFake is working with foreign audiences.

Russian propaganda is being spread quite actively and dangerously in many countries of the world. We are convinced that we need to communicate not only with European countries (we have content in English, German, Polish or Italian), but also with audiences in the Global South. For this, we are actively developing content in Spanish for audiences in Latin America and in French for Africa. StopFake also launched a Turkish edition to implement a proactive communication campaign and thwart any attempts by Russia to influence the opinion of neighboring countries.

To achieve this, our priorities are:

●  Fact-checking, information verification;

● Study of the phenomenon of fake news, media manipulations and information operations;

●  Analysis of war-related fake news

●  Verification tools and technologies for analyzing dangerous content;

● Methodology for the development of media literacy and work in the field of media education with different target audiences;

● Building network with other fact-checking organizations

StopFake had been launched on 2014 by the Ukrainian NGO "Media Reform Center". It has 25 team members working full-time and part-time. Besides fact-checking itself Stopfake does trainings in the fact-checking as well as works as a platform for research on propaganda and information influence. For the coming year the goal of Stopfake is to expand the foreign audience providing fact-checks in 14 languages.The information provided by StopFake is relevant and is fully answering to the questions of the criteria.

We publish 50 -100 fact-checking articles per month on StopFake.org web site.

You can find a list of our fact checks and analytical materials here:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/category/novyny-ua/page/13/

Factcheck for Facebook can be found here:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/category/factcheck_facebook_ua/page/13/

COVID-19 fact checking:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/category/covid19_ua/

According to the website, Stopfake published from 3 to 7 fact-check pieces daily during the period of last year. 

Analysis of the website shows that the most of StopFake publications are focused on the debunking of Russian propaganda disinformation and have targeted on a wide audience not only in Ukraine but since they publish in 14 languages to the whole world.

StopFake.org is not supported financially or institutionally by any official Ukrainian organization or governmental agency. StopFake is a media organization whose primary goal is to verify information, raise the level of media literacy in Ukraine and establish a clear line between journalism and disinformation. Our editorial policy is based on international principles of professional ethics in journalism, including the right to true information. Our intentions are to fight disinformation by debunking it and educating people about real news vs fake news and how to build informational resilience: https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

Main approaches to our work are summarized in our Editorial policy: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WGUbL4H7zwFf-sKerh2o0SvsJ5QSS63H/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hAIbP0mhnAIHDOx2btElCrByk37jbB2N/view (in English)

StopFake has a Supervisory Board - an advisory body, which includes well-known opinion leaders and influencers in education, journalism, communications and the public sector - both from Ukraine and from abroad. The experience and advice of the members of the Supervisory Board will help to assure our fact-checking is transparent, ideologically balanced and aimed at ensuring the sustainable development of the organization. https://www.stopfake.org/uk/stopfake-otrimav-novu-naglyadovu-radu/

StopFake had no any government funding in 2022

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

StopFake is independent of the state and political influence. This is stated on the editorial policy. StopFake doesn't have neither state funding nor support of any governmental institution.

 Editorial independence of the StopFake work is based on our Editorial Policy that can be found on our web site

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WGUbL4H7zwFf-sKerh2o0SvsJ5QSS63H/view  (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hAIbP0mhnAIHDOx2btElCrByk37jbB2N/view (in English)

Stopfake has no funding from the state, its editorial independence is ensured by the Editorial policy.

1. Фейк: Українці в Німеччині «перепродують речі, які їм видала німецька влада»

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-ukrayintsi-v-nimechchini-pereproduyut-rechi-yaki-yim-vidala-nimetska-vlada/

In this article we strongly followed IFCN principles, checking this claim from the original source at first. We contacted owners of the shop who were accused of selling charity, and got the necessary documents that debunked this claim.

2. Фейк: Пентагон створив дрон для поширення біологічної зброї – заражених комарів

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-pentagon-stvoriv-dron-dlya-poshirennya-biologichnoyi-zbroyi-zarazhenih-komariv/

Here we checked the documents that were mentioned in the claim and saw how the original content of them was manipulated. At the same time we asked experts from the Health Desk to check if it’s possible at all to use mosquitoes as a biological weapon. We show all the sources from where we took the evidence for the debunking.

3. Фейк: У Маріуполі знайшли біолабораторію НАТО

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-u-mariupoli-znajshli-biolaboratoriyu-nato/

Debunking this claim we also used the same principles - using primary sources, identifying them, talking with experts for better explanation. As always we show all the sources from where we took the evidence for the debunking.

4. Фейк: Українські диверсанти спалили гуманітарну допомогу в Кремінній

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-ukrayinski-diversanti-spalili-gumanitarnu-dopomogu-v-kreminnij/

In this debunk we used different ways to show that the claim of the Russian blogger was a lie. We geolocated this place with the help of Google Maps, checked the necessary information from official sources, and from the posts of local citizens in social media. Variety of sources help us to be more convincing.

5. Фейк: ЗСУ «застрелили кількох мирних жителів» під час спроби збити іранські дрони, — Der Spiegel

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-zsu-zastrelili-kilkoh-mirnih-zhiteliv-pid-chas-sprobi-zbiti-iranski-droni-der-spiegel/

Here we contacted the journalist whose article was used by Russian propaganda to create a fake claim. After speaking with us he agreed that he didn’t use correct words to describe exactly what he wanted to say, and he changed this formulation to a more correct variant. The same as everywhere in our work we use the primary sources for debunking fakes.

6. Фейк: Американські вчені «таємно досліджували» небезпечні препарати на пацієнтах психіатричної лікарні в Харкові

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-amerikanski-vcheni-tayemno-doslidzhuvali-nebezpechni-preparati-na-patsiyentah-psihiatrichnoyi-likarni-v-harkovi/

In this factcheck we used primary sources like official information, state data about such laboratories, explanations from representatives of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, etc. We also tried to find any evidence that could support this claim but it was based only on a statement of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

7. Фейк: Uber по всьому світу відмовляється перевозити українських біженців

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-uber-po-vsomu-svitu-vidmovlyayetsya-perevoziti-ukrayinskih-bizhentsiv/

In this debunk we checked all the arguments that were used to make this fake claim credible. At first we contacted Uber for the comment, and then we checked all the data that were spread with this fake like screenshots from the app. All of this helped us to show that the claim was false.

8. Фейк: KFC і Booking.com розмістили в Мюнхені образливу для українок рекламу

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-kfc-i-booking-com-rozmistili-v-myunheni-obrazlivu-dlya-ukrayinok-reklamu/

Here we checked the primary sources, contacting above-mentioned companies for the comment, talking with local citizens and using special tools to check the originality of the photo. Once again we used different ways to debunk one claim.

9. Фейк Лаврова: Київ досі не встановив імена загиблих у Бучі й не надав доказів

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-lavrova-kiyiv-dosi-ne-vstanoviv-imena-zagiblih-u-buchi-j-ne-nadav-dokaziv/

In this debunk we contacted local power for the comment, and at the same time we used reports of different international organizations to prove that this claim was false. Not only the comment for the primary source but data from independent international organizations helped us to show why this statement was wrong.

10. Фейк: У підручниках Іспанії з’явилася «карта Росії з Херсоном і Запоріжжям»

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-u-pidruchnikah-ispaniyi-z-yavilasya-karta-rosiyi-z-hersonom-i-zaporizhzhyam/

In this article we used the same algorithm as we are using in our usual work - we searched for the original source of the claim. Here we found the original history book without any imaginary map and it helped us to show that the claim was a forgery.

StopFake Methodology:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qdQDuI0mQkz8VJDHnGao8u6PPMbOk1h3/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BTwVSDx32jB-OTi0DtF-vCIkasdUvsGi/view (In English)

Examples of the stories provided by Stopfake and further analysis had shown that the newsroom follows professional standards of non-partisanship and fairness, selecting the topics and claims in an unbiased way. A detailed and thorough analysis of the facts was provided to all topics and claims in accordance to IFCN standards and rules.

  In order to identify false or questionable information, our team members conduct regular monitoring of messages from mainly traditional and online media but also from social networks.

The fakes that StopFake verifies and debunks are mostly focused on Russian disinformation. Information subject to fact checking may include, but is not limited to television or radio stories, publications in the media or on the sites that are not officially registered media, posts on social networks in certain thematic groups, made by both well-known bloggers or regular users.

We do fact checking and verification information according to StopFake methodology that can be found here: https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qdQDuI0mQkz8VJDHnGao8u6PPMbOk1h3/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BTwVSDx32jB-OTi0DtF-vCIkasdUvsGi/view (in English)

The methodology that is published on the Stopfake website clearly describes system of selection of the claims for fact-checking not being focused on one side.

Analysis of the Stopfake publications shows that while producing fact-checking pieces newsroom team reveals sources status in the story in appropriate cases. This helps the reader to know if the source has a specific interest, gives clear understanding of the story context so the audience can consider the relevance and accuracy of the information. 

No evidence of support of the state or any political force or party had been found while analysing Stopfake publications.

StopFake fact-checkers subscribe to Global Charter of Ethics for Journalists (known as “Bordeaux Declaration”) and use it as a guideline for their activities

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OlO4MMh6trT3CXzDwjd0Ssm26wNyEauY/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15RXlIywUeCKDo4XI-DU-f7VeMuehep-H/view (in English)

Stopfake editorial policy as well as Global Charter of Ethics, both set high professional standards of Journalism including non-partisanship.

All randomly selected and analyzed publications at the website are based mostly on the open document sources with relevant links to them. StopFake provides in the story detailed explanation about the methodology, tools, techniques used for fact-checking including links to the sources so the reader can replicate the process.

Most of analysed publications of Stopfake are based on primary sources of information with relevant links.

Stopfake in most of publications is using multiple sources in case the facts and claims that are checked can be proven by several different sources to make sure that publication is accurate and all facts are proven.

Analysis of the website content shows that Stopfake is always keeping balance in the publication and giving a clear understanding of the role and possible conflict of interest of the source so the reader can define the accuracy of the information.

StopFake is a fact-checking project of a Ukrainian non-governmental organization “Media Reforms Center”

https://youcontrol.com.ua/contractor/?id=19590323

The link provided with the application is eligible proof of the Non-profit independent status of Ukrainian non-governmental organisation “Media Reforms Center” - the founder of Stopfake. 

Please see this information on our website, section “About us”

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

The information that proves compliance the criteria is published on https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ 

Please read about the organizational structure on the website "About us" menu - "The StopFake team": https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

StopFake has an organisational structure and makes clear the management system on the website https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ .

The StopFake team structure and biographies of team members can be found on our website at the section "About us": https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

Information about staff members and bios of key personnel are published on the site https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ 

If readers spot the information they suspect to be a fake, they can send it to us for a further verification by email. StopFake email address can be found at "About us" section.

Also we can be contacted through the form on our website "Report fake" or users can send us a message through our accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram and Youtube channel: https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

StopFake through the site and Social Media platforms is encouraging readers to communicate  with the newsroom including the form "Report fake", mailing service, comments, and sending messages. 

Our methodology can be found on our website in “About us” section https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qdQDuI0mQkz8VJDHnGao8u6PPMbOk1h3/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BTwVSDx32jB-OTi0DtF-vCIkasdUvsGi/view (in English)

The detailed methodology of fact-check is published on https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/  as well as on the Google Drive https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BTwVSDx32jB-OTi0DtF-vCIkasdUvsGi/view .

Most of randomly selected for analysis by me were targeted on socially important topics dedicated to the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine, disinformation and propaganda, the importance of these is evident. Explanation of why and how stories are selected is published here https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ 

Analysis of randomly selected publications shows applying approach of the balance and neutrality as well as publishing facts, that can both prove or undermine the claim.

Analysis of randomly selected stories shows that Stopfake is using equal, unbiased and neutral approach to the sources of claims as well as to the sources proving claims.

According to the stories analysed, StopFake always, if possible, is seeking to reach the source to find out whether there is any additional information and trying to give the right to respond to those who made a claim.

We encourage them to use a button 'Report fake' on our website, or to use social media engagement instruments to reach out to us and report fakes:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

There are several ways to submit the claim for fact-checking, StopFake uses website and social media profiles for readers to communicate with the newsroom including the form "Report fake", mailing service, comments, and messages. On the page https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ there is detailed explanation of the claims considering procedure.

For corrections members of the audience can contact us by sending a letter to our email address - stopfake.corrections@gmail.com, indicating the link to the publication, the title of the article, the category (for example, "News") and briefly describing the problem. At the same time they have the possibility to contact us by leaving comments on our accounts in social media. Also, when Facebook users receive a notification from us that we flagged inaccurate information, they automatically have a feedback form where they can contact us, to dispute our fact-check.

Our corrections policy can be found here:

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UO5k0x4Eiy2V0mdmt9YS1434MBwBamFc/view (in English)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HRmWIN7_FEvNHESySlqvFyHzNbhMzUny/view (in Ukrainian)

StopFake has a clear correction policy that is published on the site https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ as well as several channels to receive complaints including email and comments to the publications.

Stopfake correction policy meets the criteria and standards of IFCN signatory. The policy published here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UO5k0x4Eiy2V0mdmt9YS1434MBwBamFc/view sets clearly how mistakes can be found, what and in which way they will be corrected.

Regarding the correction of articles on appeals - over the last year, StopFake concentrated its activities on fakes related to Russia's war against Ukraine, Ukrainian refugees abroad, etc. Therefore, all the appeals we received during this time did not contain arguments sufficient to prove that we were wrong on any topic. For the most part, such appeals contained insults or references to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation as a ‘reliable’ source of information. Thus, we did not have any corrections for 2022, however, we responded to each appeal and explained on what basis we stated that this claim is fake or manipulative.

https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

Please click to the button on our website - “Corrections policy” (“About us”):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HRmWIN7_FEvNHESySlqvFyHzNbhMzUny/view (in Ukrainian)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UO5k0x4Eiy2V0mdmt9YS1434MBwBamFc/view (in English)

No examples of corrections had been found in the assessed stories over the past year.

We inform users that we are a signatory of The International Fact-checking Network (IFCN) and follow The Code of Principles on the page “About us”: https://www.stopfake.org/uk/pro-nas/

This information that Stopfake is a signatory of IFCN and follow The Code of Principles is published on the site https://www.stopfake.org/en/about-us/ .