St. PETERSBURG, Fla. (Oct. 21, 2024) – The International Fact-Checking Network at the Poynter Institute, a global leader in journalism, announced today that 20 fact-checking initiatives worldwide have been awarded GROW 2024 grants, each receiving up to $50,000 to counter misinformation.
The winners represent 19 countries — including India, Zimbabwe, Portugal, the Philippines, Brazil, and Iraq — and have proposed projects aiming to combat misinformation. Their initiatives focus on empowering local communities, developing sustainable fact-checking methods, and using AI, videos, and social media to reach wider audiences.
They were selected from an initial pool of 109 applications by a panel of independent reviewers, who assessed proposals based on innovation, sustainability, and their potential to scale fact-checking operations.
“These projects reflect the diverse ways fact-checkers are tackling misinformation,” said Angie Drobnic Holan, IFCN director. “Some are harnessing AI, others are expanding into new languages, and many are strengthening existing approaches. With these grants, fact-checkers can expand their reach and make a bigger difference in their communities.”
Some of the winning projects include an AI-powered tool from Jordan to track misinformation trends in Arabic; the expansion of fact-checking videos into five South Indian languages; and efforts in Zimbabwe to translate fact checks into indigenous languages while developing revenue diversification strategies. Each recipient has 12 months to implement their projects, with progress reports due at the halfway mark.
The GROW 2024 grants are part of the $12 million Global Fact Check Fund, backed by Google and YouTube to support fact-checking initiatives worldwide and reduce the harm of misinformation. The fund allocates grants annually in three phases: BUILD, GROW, and ENGAGE.
GROW focuses on helping organizations scale their fact-checking efforts, while ENGAGE 2024 aims to foster collaboration and public engagement.
Since the fund’s launch in 2023, the IFCN has awarded nearly $6 million to 134 organizations in 67 countries.
Read below about each grant winner and their project.
Artificial Intelligence
Fatabyyano – Jordan
Project: TrendCheck.AI: AI Tool for Arabic Misinformation Trends and Narrative Analysis
Fatabyyano intends to further develop TrendCheck.AI, an AI-powered tool for real-time fact-checking and trend analysis in Arabic. The project focuses on combating misinformation in key topics such as health pandemics, climate change, natural disasters, and elections.
By utilizing advanced AI tools across multiple platforms, Fatabyyano will collect data, analyze misinformation trends, and provide real-time reports to the public, health care professionals, and policymakers. This approach will enable faster and more accurate responses to misinformation across the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region.
La Silla Vacía – Colombia
Project: AI to Free Up Time for Hispanic Fact-Checkers
This project will train generative AI and create a set of prompts to facilitate the writing of short and preliminary verification articles in Spanish. With the optimized time, fact-checkers will be able to disseminate reports not only in written language but also in audiovisual formats.
Specifically, it will reduce writing time, ensuring that each fact-checking team member can dedicate additional hours to produce video formats for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok. The project intends to optimize newsroom time and aligns with the trend of short video consumption, which will be shared with the Spanish-speaking fact-checking community to strengthen the regional verification ecosystem.
Impact and Sustainability
FactCheckZW – Zimbabwe
Project: Towards Sustainable Fact Checking
FactCheckZW seeks to increase content visibility by translating fact-checks from English into Shona and Ndebele, reaching Zimbabwe’s diverse communities. A WhatsApp chatbot will support this effort, offering a direct way for users to access verified information. Additionally, FactCheckZW will introduce pre-bunking services, including monitoring online misinformation and creating customized content, such as explainer videos, tailored to address specific industry threats.
Project: Kurdish Fact-Checkers Growth
Tech4Peace – Iraq
Tech4Peace aims to significantly expand fact-checking efforts in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, focusing on Kurdish-speaking communities. The project will train 10 new Kurdish-speaking volunteers in fact-checking and digital security, overseen by a dedicated coordinator. An awareness campaign in Sorani Kurdish will raise public understanding of misinformation.
Tech4Peace will also translate its Arabic Massive Online Courses on fact-checking into Kurdish, positioning itself as a key resource for combating misinformation in the region. These efforts will increase the reach and impact of fact-checking in Kurdish and may position the organization as a third-party fact-checker for platforms like Meta.
Verificat – Spain
Project: Diversificat
Seeking ways to increase the financial sustainability of fact-checking organizations is the goal of Verificat’s “Diversificat” project. The project seeks to professionally commercialize a set of services to clients at the local and regional level and to increase revenue from media literacy and fact-checking services. Verificat is already developing tailored services to businesses that include fact-checking training, strategies to enhance transparency, and combating misinformation within corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. The new funds will be targeted at creating a structured business development and sales strategy in order to increase revenue and retain customers.
Aos Fatos – Brazil
Project: Aos Fatos 10+
Aos Fatos aims to raise public awareness around the evolution of disinformation in Brazil and globally via a documentary film. Using a chapter format, Aos Fatos will pursue a cross-media strategy that distributes content across platforms like YouTube and Instagram and enables the creation of short clips for platforms like TikTok and Shorts.
The organization also plans to license the documentary to streaming platforms such as Amazon Prime and Netflix, aiming to broaden its reach and generate income. Tied to the 10th anniversary of Aos Fatos in July 2025, the project aims to highlight and promote fact-checking as integral to Brazilian life, fostering a culture of verification that didn’t exist before.
Mafindo – Indonesia
Project: Capacity Building for Volunteer-Based Fact-Checkers
Unlike other fact-checking organizations based on journalists and professionals, Mafindo has over 1,000 volunteers from various occupational backgrounds who care about creating a digital ecosystem that is safe from misinformation and disinformation. These volunteers help fact-check digital content or refer it to Mafindo for more in-depth checking so as to reach IFCN fact-checking standards.
Mafindo seeks to strengthen the capacity of the volunteer fact-checkers through training in the use of storytelling and artificial intelligence, and it seeks to diversify its fact-checking content into short videos, interactive infographics, comics, and data journalism.
Pravda – Poland
Project: Impact Beyond Views: Introducing an Impact Editor Role to Enhance the Reach and Influence of Fact-Checking Articles at Pravda
Pravda will use funds to create an Impact Editor role, a strategic position designed to expand the influence of fact-checks beyond traditional metrics. This role will focus on engaging with claimants, collaborating with civil society, influencing policymakers, and working with legal entities to ensure fact-checks become catalysts for informed debate and policy change.
This innovative approach intends to set new internal processes at Pravda, but will also set a new standard for measuring success in the fact-checking community. A pilot program will establish new workflows and metrics, tested on selected fact-checking articles for 11 months. By sharing the outcomes of this initiative with the IFCN community, Pravda hopes to spark a broader discussion on redefining impact in the digital age.
Press Trust of India – India
Project: Grow By Growing Others
Press Trust of India (PTI) aims to counter cross-border misinformation that impacts India by building fact-checking capabilities in neighboring countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The project will train local news organizations to establish their own fact-checking operations, helping them achieve IFCN certification. This initiative creates a regional network of fact-checkers, sharing verified information across borders.
The long-term goal is to equip these organizations to fact-check hundreds of stories, reaching over 200 million people across South Asia.
Information Access
Probe – Philippines
Project: Probe Archives: Safeguarding History on Reel
Probe Archives will leverage its role as a guardian of the Philippines’ audiovisual heritage to strengthen fact-checking efforts. The project will digitize historical footage and upgrade digital infrastructure to make these archives more accessible to journalists, educators, and the public. By preserving and providing accurate historical records, Probe will combat misinformation and offer verifiable facts that bridge the past and present, empowering truth-seekers in the digital age.
Myth Detector – Georgia
Project: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Myth Detector’s Website
Myth Detector plans to expand its SEO strategies to improve online visibility and ensure its fact checks appear more prominently in search results. By refining off-page SEO, such as building high-quality backlinks and optimizing for local SEO, the platform aims to reach broader audiences, including ethnic minorities. This effort is especially crucial with the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia, where misinformation is widespread.
Enhancing SEO will help Myth Detector provide accurate information to diverse communities and counter disinformation effectively.
New Formats in Fact-Checking
Taiwan FactCheck Center – Taiwan
Project: Combating Misinfo with Fact-Checks in Various Formats
This project aims to accelerate the transition of primarily text-based fact-checking reports into audio and video reports appropriate for social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube, and LINE. The project will initiate a diversity of report formats to make them more accessible and engaging, enabling various platform users to encounter verified information more easily and share it more widely.
The grant will enable the team to add staff and purchase equipment to enact the program. Creating more fact checks in video format is expected to increase the impact of the reports, and to enhance the competitiveness of fact-checking in Taiwan and in the Chinese-speaking world.
Zašto ne – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Project: Hacking Audience Bubbles by Empowering Young Content Creators
Reaching young audiences has been challenging for fact-checking platforms Raskrinkavanje and Istinomjer, limiting their influence among youth exposed to disinformation on social networks like TikTok and Instagram. This project aims to create short, engaging TikTok videos that are adaptable for Instagram, targeting young people.
The initiative will train 15 young content creators to understand the digital information landscape and produce fact-checking content. The best ideas will be incorporated into production, with trained youth helping to develop and maintain this content. The project seeks to increase the number of young people equipped to combat disinformation, enhancing outreach and engagement with the youth of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Newsmeter – India
Project: Expanding Multilingual Fact-Checking: Building Full-Fledged Video Units Across South Indian Languages
Newsmeter will expand its fact-checking video production into five South Indian languages—Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tamil—and English, targeting health misinformation by collaborating with hospitals and doctors.
Using innovative content like short-form reels and explainer videos, Newsmeter aims to boost engagement and combat false information across diverse linguistic communities, making fact-checking more accessible and impactful.
Metamorphosis Foundation – North Macedonia
Project: Increasing Fact-Checker Capacities for Video Podcast Production
Metamorphosis Foundation will enhance the video production capabilities of its fact-checking platform, Vistinomer.mk, by launching a new video podcast. This initiative will involve hiring technical staff, upgrading studio equipment, and partnering with experts to train the team in video content creation.
The podcast will feature discussions on information integrity and showcase fact checks, expanding Vistinomer.mk’s reach to younger, video-centric audiences in North Macedonia.
DELFI – Lithuania
Project: DELFI “Lie Detector” Increasing Content Visibility for Youth Audience
DELFI plans to boost its fact-checking impact among under-35 audiences by scaling video production. The project will hire a full-time video content producer and provide training for staff to create engaging videos tailored to younger viewers.
By leveraging DELFI’s extensive regional reach, the project will produce content specifically for platforms like TikTok and Instagram, addressing the growing influence of AI-enhanced disinformation. These efforts will bridge the gap between young audiences and trustworthy information.
Polígrafo – Portugal
Project: LOCAL: Regional Fact-Checking
Polígrafo will strengthen fact-checking efforts beyond Lisbon and Porto by partnering with five regional newspapers. This project will create a dedicated “LOCAL” section, publishing five fact checks per week on regional issues that often go unnoticed by national media.
The organization will also offer free content to partner newspapers and run workshops to help local communities spot misinformation. A new fact-checker will be hired to support this initiative, bringing fact-checking closer to Portugal’s rural and less urbanized areas.
Hibrid.info – Kosovo
Project: Empowering Fact-Checking in Kosovo II
Building on the success of a previous grant, Hibrid.info will strengthen its fact-checking and media literacy efforts by retaining skilled staff and transitioning key roles to full-time positions. The project also includes rebranding and upgrading their Hibrid.info and KosovoFacts websites to improve user experience. With additional training and digital improvements, the organization aims to enhance its capacity to combat misinformation, ensuring a greater impact across Kosovo.
Climate Change
Faktoje – Albania
Project: Fact-checking Reporting on Climate Change and Environmental Damage in Albania
Faktoje plans a comprehensive initiative to tackle environmental issues in Albania through fact-checked journalism and public engagement. The project will include in-depth investigative articles, photography and translations to create journalism that covers critical environmental challenges like deforestation, coastal erosion, and pollution. Additionally, Faktoje will use the work to train journalism students on environmental journalism and fact-checking, with an emphasis on AI-based fact-checking techniques and gender-sensitive reporting.
Ellinika Hoaxes – Greece
Project: ClimateCheck Grow
Ellinika Hoaxes will dramatically increase its climate change coverage with the addition of specialized staff to focus on this work. The initiative aims to position Ellinika Hoaxes as a key reference point in the country for combating climate disinformation and sparking dialogue on the issue. In addition to increased reporting, the organization will scale up a public Facebook group to serve as a platform for users to suggest claims they’ve encountered for debunking and for fact-checkers to share their findings and disseminate the results of this program. Stand-alone comprehensive reports over the 12 months of the project will detail the landscape of climate disinformation in Greece.
Media Contact:
Angie Drobnic Holan
Director, International Fact-Checking Network
aholan@poynter.org
+1-727-410-1770
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About the International Fact-Checking Network
The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter was launched in 2015 to bring together the growing community of fact-checkers around the world and advocates of factual information in the global fight against misinformation. We enable fact-checkers through networking, capacity building and collaboration. IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to more than 100 organizations worldwide through advocacy, training and global events. Our team monitors trends in the fact-checking field to offer resources to fact-checkers, contribute to public discourse and provide support for new projects and initiatives that advance accountability in journalism. We believe truth and transparency can help people be better informed and equipped to navigate harmful misinformation.
