Open call to advance understanding of information integrity in the EU

As one of the initiatives under the European Democracy Shield, this open call will provide funding of €6m for a project to run over 24 to 30 months to create a common research framework with the necessary infrastructure to enable advanced research and analysis on information integrity in the EU. 

The outcomes of the project, both as relates to systemic risks and data access under the DSA, are highly relevant to the work of ECAT, and we encourage our research stakeholders to consider applying. 

The successful applicants will be tasked with setting up a consortium and a funding distribution mechanism, as at least 60% of the grant needs to be redistributed to third parties. 

 The main aims of the project are:

• Bridging gaps and silos in existing research efforts, to foster collaboration across communities, disciplines and borders
• Expanding research capabilities, including through a targeted distribution of funds
• Securing or setting up necessary technological infrastructure, comprising both hardware and software capacities, needed for advanced research on information integrity
• Facilitating knowledge-sharing on how to use the regulatory tools that are at the disposal of researchers interested in studying online ecosystems.

As part of the aim to facilitate knowledge-sharing, the call specifically includes an objective to contribute to the data access regime under the DSA. This should be done by collecting views from the research community on the data access API’s of very large online platforms, documenting best practices and shortcomings, and representing the research community in efforts to improve the capability of API’s.

The call particularly targets research institutions, civil society, fact-checking organisations and technology providers, and the deadline for submissions is 1 October 2026. 

If you are interested in learning more, you can find the full details of the call on the EU Funding and Tenders Portal.

See full details of the call