The International Fact-Checking Network has deep concerns over recent threats against Ellinika Hoaxes of Greece from a prominent politician who has threatened to abolish the organization via new legislative action. Such threats can have significant chilling effects on independent accountability journalism, including the work of fact-checkers. Ellinika Hoaxes is a respected member of the international fact-checking community and should be able to continue its work without threats.
Recently, Kyriakos Velopoulos, a member of Greece’s Hellenic Parliament and president of the Greek Solution political party, repeatedly made a series of threats to abolish Ellinika Hoaxes through legislative interventions he said he intends to introduce. The attacks include a statement from the parliamentary floor in which he declared, “We will abolish the anti-Hellenic Hoaxes because they fight against the true informing of Greeks.” Ellinika Hoaxes has noted the threat directly contradicts Greece’s constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and the press.
“It is preposterous to claim that a verified IFCN member and a reputable fact-checking organization is fighting against accurate information. Such statements have no other purpose than to attack fact-checking and lay the foundation for stifling of the free press. We condemn them in the strongest terms,” said Angie Drobnic Holan, IFCN director.
Ellinika Hoaxes has been a longstanding signatory to the Code of Principles, receiving its first independent assessment and successful approval in 2019. Fact-checkers voluntarily sign on to the Code of Principles and go through a verification process to prove they meet universal standards of transparency, independence and methodology.
The Code of Principles is administered by the International Fact-Checking Network, a global community of fact-checking organizations based at the Poynter Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 1975 that advocates for independent journalism. The Code of Principles process involves an assessment of the fact-checking organization by an independent academic or media expert familiar with the local context. The assessment is then verified by the IFCN advisory board. The advisory board is made up of leaders of independent fact-checking organizations from around the world who have been selected by their peers.
The International Fact-Checking Network, which was established in 2015, is dedicated to supporting press freedom and fact-checkers globally, including our signatories. Ellinika Hoaxes deserves to continue publishing its explanatory journalism and fact checks that hold the government, political parties and candidates accountable without threat of reprisal.
