Work package 1: Analysis of FIMI campaigns and techniques
The consortium has already met Objective 1 of analysing manifestations of FIMI, the TTPs used by attackers and their impacts on democracy. We completed our analysis of 32 case studies of FIMI (two more than promised in the Grant Agreement) and collected primary data via 20 interviews to gather views on FIMI, the role of technology in shaping FIMI and its overall impact on democratic processes.The partners have examined the psychological mechanisms, persuasive tactics and societal consequences of FIMI. The partners analysed the psychological mechanisms, persuasive tactics, and societal consequences employed by malign actors to manipulate perceptions, undermine trust, and destabilise democratic institutions.
Work package 2: Countermeasure techniques – state of the art and beyond
The partners conducted a literature review of the existing empirical research of countermeasures. We developed a taxonomy based on existing classifications of countermeasures. We are planning a methodology to measure their effectiveness.
Work package 3: Sourcing, storing, engineering and exploring data
We developed our initial scraping framework for harvesting FIMI data found online. We are defining a harmonized data model for capturing harvested data in our knowledge graph. The partners have developed a knowledge graph for capturing FIMI data. We have also coordinated with the DISARM Foundation to investigate uplifting the current DISARM framework to a semantic representation. A prototype ontology was submitted to the DISARM Foundation in June 2024 and is still under active development. We have identified tools for deployment including Deepfake Detection, Entity Recognition, News Reliability Classifier, Fake News Detection, Fake News Categorization, Hate Speech Detection, and an LLM-based assistant for querying the knowledge graph. The partners have a dashboard for using the tools. We have identified functional and non-functional requirements for end users. We organised an initial requirements gathering workshop in October 2024 with expert analysts investigating FIMI to assess their major pain points with existing tools.
Work package 4: Policymaking and foresight
The partners have analysed the current legal landscape at an EU level, with attention given to the AI Act and the DSA. In the coming months, this analysis will expand by looking into the Media Freedom Act and several others, as well as gaining insight into unique differences between member states. The consortium completed a detailed draft evaluating emerging technologies most likely to impact disinformation in the next five years. We submitted an interim version of our report, which is not due until Oct 026. Work on developing a questionnaire for evaluating potential FIMI will start in M18. Preliminary planning has been already started. The consortium will make recommendations within EU policy priorities.
