VIGILANT Project

#Disinformation keeps evolving — and so must our response 🛡️
As our partners at TNO highlight, addressing this complex challenge isn’t just about tools. It requires genuine #collaboration across society.

🖇️ Take a look at what the #VIGILANTProject has achieved: bit.ly/4olqOcb

✨ From Dublin to Freiburg — and three years in between of building tools to help Police Authorities monitor, analyse, and investigate #disinformation — to strengthen our #democracies.
🤝 Thank you to every partner who walked this road with us.

Our key achievements: bit.ly/4olqOcb

Understanding and Countering Disinformation: A New Manual for Practitioners Understanding and Countering Disinformation: A New Manual for Practitioners

📑 We also discussed our Disinformation Response Manual, a friendly, practical guide to what disinformation is, how it spreads, and why it matters for public safety.
Stay informed and explore it yourself: bit.ly/4pG6NhN

💡 Back in October, we brought our Community of Early Adopters together online — including police authorities — for a look at how the VIGILANT platform can support them in spotting and understanding #disinformation in real time.

Three Years of VIGILANT: Results, Outputs and Impact Three Years of VIGILANT: Results, Outputs and Impact

👉 Read more about the key achievements of the #VIGILANTProject: bit.ly/42R3US6

🌍 #Collaboration makes #innovation stronger

As Florian Bonensteffen from the German Police University reflects, bringing together different perspectives was essential to creating a training programme that truly supports Police Authorities in addressing #disinformation.

The #VIGILANTProject was featured at the EU Commission’s 6th Annual JRC Disinformation Workshop “Defending European Democracy” 🇪🇺

Dr. Brendan Spillane (@ucddublin.bsky.social) shared how VIGILANT’s AI tools help counter #disinformation & FIMI — protecting Europe’s info space.🛡️

📌 bit.ly/3LVJDVJ

💬 How can #truth and #democracy thrive in times of #fakenews?
Zlatko Valentic is bringing this question from the university halls to the public sphere — exploring how understanding and dialogue can help counter #disinformation.

Read more in @badische-zeitung.de: bit.ly/4oAwY9o

#VIGILANTProject

📊 As social media platforms changed and data access became more restricted, the #VIGILANTProject team had to adapt fast.

Jakub Šimko (@kinitsk.bsky.social) shares how flexibility and #innovation helped turn these challenges into an opportunity.

👉 Key achievements: bit.ly/42R3US6

VITAL INTELLIGENCE TO INVESTIGATE ILLEGAL DISINFORMATION An interdisciplinary effort by a consortium of leading researchers and experts to help police authorities counter disinformation linked to criminal activities. VIGILANT is a project funded by the Euro...

📎 More on the project: bit.ly/3JpDa4H

💭 Fighting #disinformation isn’t just about #technology — it’s about #ethics too.

As Zlatko Valentic (University of Freiburg) reminds, the #VIGILANTProject ensured that every step — from data collection to tool development — respected freedom of expression, data protection, and ethical standards. ⚖️

As the project wraps up after three impactful years, we celebrate the people who made it happen — experts and partners who turned shared goals into real results.

✨ #Trust, #collaboration, and #innovation — the key ingredients behind VIGILANT Project’s success.

Here’s what our Principal Investigator, Brendan Spillane (@ucddublin.bsky.social), had to say about the journey 👇

More on key achievements: bit.ly/42R3US6

#VIGILANTProject #Disinformation

Together with our partners, we’ve helped strengthen Europe’s defense against online #disinformation — developing new tools, sharing insights at top events, and building partnerships that will last beyond the project.

✨ After three years of #collaboration, #innovation, and #research, the #VIGILANTProject is wrapping up!

However, the journey doesn’t end here — VIGILANT’s results will continue to support a safer, more resilient #digital Europe.
Stay tuned for more!

Learn more 👉 bit.ly/42R3US6

A heartfelt thank you to all our partners for an inspiring journey of collaboration, innovation, and dedication to strengthening Europe’s #resilience against online #disinformation. 💡
Stay tuned — more to come soon!

📍#VIGILANTProject partners came together at the University of Freiburg 🇩🇪 for our final General Assembly!
Over two days, we reflected on our achievements, shared lessons learned and discussed how to build on VIGILANT’s success in the future.

More on VIGILANT Project: vigilantproject.eu

🔁 #Disinformation doesn’t just spread — it amplifies and repeats

C5: Cycle of Amplification in the #C5InteractionModel (#VIGILANTProject) shows how disinformation feeds on itself through exposure, susceptibility, and sharing—creating a never-ending spiral.

📄 Whole report by TNO: bit.ly/3KPeXoK

C4: Consequences in the #C5InteractionModel (part of the #VIGILANTProject) looks at the real-world impact of disinformation—how it escalates from belief change to polarisation, radicalisation, and even violence.

⚠️ #Disinformation doesn’t just spread—it sticks. And it changes minds, groups, and societies.

📎 Dive deeper into how micro, meso, and macro effects unfold: bit.ly/3L9hsSN

💡📘 The new #VIGILANTProject white paper Access to Data for Researchers: A Look Over the Horizon highlights these challenges and suggests how Europe can make data access more open, fair, and secure for public-interest research.

🔎 As online threats like information manipulation grow more complex, researchers need reliable and timely access to social media data to understand and respond to them.
💬 Explore the main recommendations and read the full report by #VIGILANTProject: bit.ly/4ojcpOb

🧭 Spanning four half-day sessions, the training included a hands-on walkthrough of the VIGILANT dashboard, where participants explored real-time tools and completed guided tasks to strengthen their operational skills.

👮‍♂️💻Last week, the #VIGILANTProject successfully delivered a multi-day technical training workshop for police authorities, focused on detecting and analyzing #disinformation using the VIGILANT platform.

👉 More on the project: bit.ly/46USYUN

#Training #LawEnforcement

🖼️ From clickbait headlines to deepfakes, bots to influencers—disinfo is crafted to provoke emotion, mimic truth, and spread fast.
Tactics include viral visuals, gendered attacks & emotional storytelling designed to polarise and persuade.

🧠 What does #Disinformation look like?
C3: Content in the #C5InteractionModel (from the #VIGILANTProject) breaks down the forms, channels, strategies, and narratives used to mislead and manipulate.

📄 Explore more in the full report: bit.ly/4mGWrMF

👤 From lone trolls to state-sponsored networks, creators can be individuals, bots, or organisations.
💰🎭 Their motives? Political gain, financial profit, ideological influence—or even personal revenge.

🎯 Why do actors create #Disinformation?
C2: Causes in the #C5InteractionModel (developed under #VIGILANTProject) examines both the who and the why behind disinformation.
📍Understanding who creates disinformation and why is key to stopping it.

📎 Full report by TNO here: bit.ly/4o0u25j

🔍 To address hate speech, online bullying & foreign manipulation, #researchers need timely access to social media data.
Yet legal, tech & financial barriers remain. Our new #VIGILANTProject paper shows how Europe can support them & boost #digitalresilience.

👉 Read more here: bit.ly/42dd4br

🧭 #Disinformation is deeply shaped by its context

C1: Context, part of the #C5InteractionModel under #VIGILANTProject, shows how factors like region, media ecosystems, political climates, and major events determine the style, targets, and impact of disinformation.

📄 Full report: bit.ly/4nepkAK