EU creates a “Ministry of Truth” with taxpayers’ money – Fact-checking network receives 5.7 million euros

European Commission launches a network with 5.69 million euros to finance fact-checking – officially to “protect democracy”, de facto to expand censorship infrastructure

An EU fact-checking project funded with over €5 million is presented as a tool to defend democracy – but in reality it is like a velvet glove for the iron fist of European content governance.

The European Commission has launched an initiative presented as a support program for fact-checkers. However, beneath the surface, it is a strategically planned step toward further institutionalizing state-sponsored censorship within the European Union.

This call for project proposals is marketed as being aimed at protecting democracy and combating disinformation. However, its structure, objectives, and institutional embedding suggest the opposite: a centrally controlled apparatus for enforcing official narratives – financed with public funds.

The project runs until September 2, 2025, and is aimed not only at organizations from EU member states, but also explicitly at candidate countries such as Ukraine and Moldova – countries that the EU considers particularly vulnerable to “foreign influence,” especially “pro-Kremlin disinformation.”

This strategic framing serves two purposes: first, to legitimize increased content surveillance, and second, to ensure narrative control in geopolitically sensitive regions.

The program’s central goals – protecting fact-checkers from alleged “harassment,” creating a central repository for fact-checking, and building “response capacity” for crisis situations – appear harmless at first glance. But beyond the euphemistic language, a blueprint for a continent-wide control system for content surveillance is emerging.

The proposed “protection system” offers legal and technical assistance to fact-checkers – but above all, it reinforces the narrative that any criticism of these organizations should not be viewed as legitimate expression of opinion, but as an abusive attack.

The planned central “fact-check repository” will serve to curate what is considered “truth.” The proposed “emergency function,” in turn, will allow the Commission to quickly take action against dissenting information in politically sensitive situations – under the pretext of “crisis response.”

Particularly revealing is that participating organizations need to be certified by either the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) or the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN). Many of these certified bodies – including AFP and Full Fact – already cooperate closely with social networks like Meta through external moderation programs.

This means that the European Commission is using public funds to build a privileged class of information gatekeepers who are already intertwined with the censorship mechanisms of large corporations – and is also giving them state legitimacy and funding.

At least 60% of the funds are to be allocated to third parties, with co-financing by the recipients being a prerequisite – a further step towards anchoring these structures in the European information space.

The Commission describes this initiative as part of its so-called “European Democracy Shield” – a term that in practice turns out to be a rhetorical pretext for restricting freedom of expression.

Almost every policy component of this project relates to dealing with so-called “disinformation.” However, no precise or objective definition of this term is provided– which allows the Commission maximum flexibility in suppressing unwanted speech.

This deliberate vagueness paves the way for an instrument that can be directed against a broad spectrum of critical voices – without democratic control and with the support of the EU bureaucracy.

yogaesoteric
June 16, 2025

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