Combatting disinformation online: launch of Journalism Trust Initiative

posted on 24 April, 2018 (public)

Transparency standards as a means to promote quality journalism and counter disinformation online

The Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI), which is an innovative media self-regulatory initiative designed to combat disinformation online, was launched on 3 April 2018 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and its partners Agence France Presse (AFP), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Global Editors Network (GEN).

The initiative is designed to promote journalism by adherence to an agreed set of trust and transparency standards to be developed and implemented. This will happen by means of a Workshop Agreement with the European Centre of Standardization (CEN), which was open for registration on 3 April 2018.
The goal of the ‘Journalism Trust Initiative’ is to support the universal, individual freedom of opinion through access to information and independent, pluralistic media. The scope of the workshop is to outline the operational details by developing the following CEN Workshop Agreements: Rules on Transparency and Disclosure; Trusted Journalism – Editorial Methods and Safeguards; and Fair Journalism – Editorial Conduct and Society. The consensus outcome of the Workshop will be published as CEN-CENELEC Workshop Agreements by the end of 2019.
The resulting standards are expected to reflect transparency of media ownership and sources of revenues, as well as journalistic methods and the compliance with ethical norms and independence. They are intended to become a voluntary, leading benchmark of media self-regulation and good practices for all those who produce journalistic content, ranging from individual bloggers to international media groups.

More information on the kick-off workshop which will be held on 23 May 2018 in Paris can be found below:

Combatting disinformation online has been high on the European Commission’s and the Council of Europe’s agendas as well:

In January 2018, the Commission set up a high-level group of experts to advise on policy initiatives to counter fake news and disinformation spread online. The main deliverable of this high-level group was a report designed to review best practices in the light of fundamental principles, and suitable responses stemming from such principles.
The Council of Europe has recently set-up a Committee of experts on quality journalism in the digital age (MSI-JOQ) which is entrusted to prepare a standard-setting proposal on criteria and measures for ensuring a favourable environment for the practice of quality journalism in the digital age. MSI-JOQ will also study the promotion of media and information literacy in the digital environment and reflect on a possible standard-setting instrument. Also, in September 2017, the Council of Europe published an extensive report on Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making.