StopFake

StopFake is an Ukrainian nonprofit media organization founded in March 2014 by Ukrainian professors and students to refute Russian propaganda and fake news.[2][3][4] What began as a Russian-English language fact-checking organization, it has grown to produce a TV show broadcast on 30 local channels, a weekly radio show, and a strong social media following.[5]

StopFake
FormationMarch 2, 2014 (2014-03-02)
FoundersMargot Gontar
Oleg Shankovskyi
Yevhen Fedchenko
Ruslan Deynychenko
TypeNonprofit
PurposeFact-checking,
HeadquartersKyiv, Ukraine
Official languages
Russian, English, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Bulgarian, French, Dutch, Czech, German[1]
Staff
26
Websitewww.stopfake.org/en/main/

History

The organization grew out of an online discussion between faculty and alumni of National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.[6] Margot Gontar (at that point a recent master's graduate of the Mohyla journalism program), Oleg Shankovskyi, Ruslan Deynychenko,[1] and Yevhen Fedchenko (a professor of Journalism at Mohyla Academy) co-founded the organization in 2014.[7][6][4][8] The website StopFake.org went live on 2 March 2014.[9]

In its first four months of operation, its website averaged one and a half million visitors per month.[10]

In November of 2016, the organization became a partner in the First Draft News network.[1]

Operation

StopFake has streamlined the process of fact-checking stories with software tools.[11] The organization has worked on combatting the spread of disinformation by Russia,[2][12] focusing on information disseminated on social media.[13]For example, Russian media has taken the likeness of living persons and fabricated claims that the person died in service of pro-Russian forces fighting in the War in Donbas.[14] It produces StopFake News, a weekly television show hosted by co-founder Gontar only about fake news, and holds the standard that "[i]f fact checkers cannot prove that a story published or broadcast by another news media outlet is false, it will not be featured in the weekly airing".[4] Following the allegations of Russian influence in the 2016 United States presidential election, StopFake began to gain international recognition.[3] The site is financed by crowdfunding, readers' contributions, the Renaissance Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, National Democratic Institute, German Marshall Fund, the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic, the Foreign Ministry of the United Kingdom, the British Embassy in Ukraine, and the Sigrid Rausing Trust.[15][16][1]

StopFake started as a volunteer effort, but it had 26 paid staff members by 2017.[6][10][4]

With it's expanding audience, the organization began promoting in 2017 media literacy, and it began conducting research into the creation and dissemination of propaganda.[1]

Reception

In a joint effort, the Financial Times, Google, Res Publica and Visegrád Group recognized StopFake and its founder in their 2016 New Europe 100 list, commending "central and eastern Europe’s brightest and best people—plus the organisations who are changing the region’s societies, politics or business environments and displaying innovation, entrepreneurialism and fresh approaches to prevailing problems".[17] StopFake won the "Best Project in Russian Award" in Deutsche Welle's 2014 BOBs awards.[18]

The New York Times states that StopFake "is highly respected in journalistic circles here in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, for its specialty of debunking fake news", and it "reported some of the biggest nonstories of the war" in Ukraine.[4] Politico stated that "the journalism school crew behind StopFake have emerged as the 'grand wizards' of the fake-news-busting world".[3]

Controversy

In 2020, Ekaterina Sergatskova, a Ukrainian journalist, published an article on Zaborona detailing links between leaders of far-right and neo-Nazi groups and the directors of StopFake.org. Following this, she was targeted for harassment and threats, and personal information of her and her son were posted online.[19] Sergatskova was forced to flee Kyiv citing fears for her life.[20] StopFake denied having any far-right ties or bias, calling the Zaborona article part of a campaign of slanderous "information attacks."[21]

References
  1. Budivska, Halnya (2 March 2017). "StopFake, Ukraine's Fact-Checking Site, Expands Across Europe". European Journalism Observatory. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  2. Hern, Alex (19 June 2017). "Facebook and Twitter are being used to manipulate public opinion – report". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2019. The report on the country’s efforts to tackle Russian misinformation highlights the StopFake project, a collaborative effort to tackle fake stories “produced mainly by the Russian media”
  3. Maheshwari, Vijai (12 March 2017). "Ukraine's fight against fake news goes global". Politico. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. Kramer, Andrew E. (26 February 2017). "To Battle Fake News, Ukrainian Show Features Nothing but Lies". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. "Ukraine's Remedy for Fake News: News About Fake News". WNYC Studios. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. "A Ukrainian factchecking site is trying to spot fake photos in social media — and building audience". Nieman Lab. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  7. Chimbelu, Chiponda (6 May 2014). "Fake news can ruin lives, says Stopfake.org founder". DW.COM. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  8. "In Ukraine, A Battle of Words and Images". Time. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  9. "Media Myths Regarding Events in Ukraine are Misleading". mythdetector.ge. Media Development Foundation. 2014-11-27. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  10. Stephen, Russ-Mohl (28 July 2014). "Stopfake: Ukraine's Reply to Propaganda". European Journalism Observatory. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  11. Priest, Dana; Birnbaum, Michael (25 June 2017). "Europe has been working to expose Russian meddling for years". Washington Post. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  12. Palma, Bethania (27 June 2017). "Russia's Neighbor Ukraine Besieged by 'Fake News' and Hacking Years Before United States". Snopes. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. "Crecen los sitios web dedicados sólo a chequear informaciones". Clarín (in Spanish). 25 July 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2019. Each fact-checking undertaking has its specificity. In Ukraine, StopFake.org focuses on social networks, which function as one of the main sources of information for citizens, and evaluates the veracity of the images disseminated, currently closely related to the war in the country.
  14. "The Ukrainian female suicide bomber who never was". The Observers - France 24. 2014-12-08. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  15. "About us". StopFake. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  16. "О нас". StopFake (in Russian). Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  17. Foy, Henry (15 November 2016). "New Europe 100 — changemakers in central and eastern Europe". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  18. "Best of Online Activism". Deutsche Welle. 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  19. "Ukraine Urged To Protect Journalist Threatened Over Her Reporting".
  20. "Ukrainian journalist forced to flee following threats from far-right".
  21. "The StopFake Supervisory Board Position About the Escalating Information Attacks Directed Against the Project Team". StopFake. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
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