DigiMedia-University of Aveiro and CIES-ISCTE fom Lisbon are the two Portuguese Higher Education Institutions that are part of IBERIFIER, the Iberian Observatory made up of 23 Portuguese and Spanish institutions, which will investigate digital media and identify threats of disinformation. With a funding of 1.47 million euros, IBERIFIER is one of the eight regional centers that will be part of the European Observatory of Digital Media of the European Commission.

This project is coordinated by the University of Navarra, with the Portuguese research being jointly coordinated by the researchers Gustavo Cardoso (CIES-ISCTE), Vania Baldi (DigiMedia-University of Aveiro) and Miguel Paisana (OberCom). In addition to Vania Baldi, the DigiMedia team includes the researchers Lídia Oliveira and Luis Pedro.

This new observatory will focus its research on five lines of work. First, it will investigate the characteristics and trends of the Iberian digital media ecosystem. It will also develop computational technologies for the early detection of misinformation. In addition, it will verify and refute disinformation in the Iberian territory, reporting to the European Commission. It will prepare strategic reports on threats of disinformation, both for public knowledge and for authorities in Spain and Portugal. Finally, it will work on media literacy initiatives aimed at journalists, young people and society as a whole.

The observatory is made up of twelve universities, five verification organizations and news agencies, and six other multidisciplinary research centers. In Portugal, IBERIFIER has the participation of Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, University of Aveiro, Polígrafo, Lusa – Agência de Notícias de Portugal, OberCom – Observatório da Comunicação, Cenjor – Centro Protocolar de Formação Profissional para Jornalistas, and Associação Literacia Para os Media e Jornalismo.

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