Monitoring global initiatives for democracy and disinformation: the collaboration between government, society, market, and academia within media observatories in the European Union.

• Grant number: 25/23057-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 01, 2026
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Communications - Journalism and Publishing
• Principal Investigator: Danilo Rothberg
• Grantee: Danilo Rothberg
• Host Investigator: Vania Baldi
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes, Comunicação e Design (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Portugal

Abstract

This research will investigate efforts aimed at strengthening democracy and combating disinformation, particularly in the European Union. Given the growing production and circulation of disinformation in digital environments and its impact on democratic processes, the research analyzes how different social actors-government, civil society, the market, and academia-work together to develop initiatives for monitoring news media, fact-checking, and media literacy. The central objective is to understand how the collaborations between these sectors contributes to the consolidation of more effective information integrity practices and policies. The methodological approach is based on a multi-method strategy, combining qualitative documentary analysis and in-depth interviews. The research will seek to answer how cooperation between government, universities, media companies, and social organizations can increase the legitimacy, effectiveness, and reach of actions against disinformation, while also reinforcing democratic values. Additionally, the research should comprehensively characterize, based on specialized literature, the actions that media observatories can develop to serve as strategic spaces for convergence and innovation, capable of inspiring global public policies to promote informational integrity and democratic resilience. Positive differences in action and opportunities for improvement, with an emphasis on the initiatives of Portugal and Spain under the digital media observatory Iberifier (Iberian Digital Media Observatory), linked to the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO), will be identified, in order to propose practical recommendations for media monitoring, fact-checking, and media literacy initiatives appropriate beyond the European framework, particularly in Brazil. (AU)