The purpose of the event was to show what solutions new fact-checking technologies and tools can provide. The focus was on the role of artificial intelligence and the use of big data in detecting false information.

The conference was opened by Bozhidar Bojanov, Minister of Electronic Government of the Republic of Bulgaria (resigned). He pointed out that the extent of the misinformation problem, especially on Facebook, is currently unclear. “Disinformation is not a new problem. Now, however, there is a technological layer through which it spreads, and accordingly, the distribution mechanism must find a technological solution,” said Bozhidar Bojanov.

The event was divided into two sessions – technological and practical. The technology session presented solutions proposed by IT companies to detect disinformation. The hands-on session focused on the fact-checking challenges facing information professionals. Assoc. prof. Milena Dobreva, a researcher at GATE, was the moderator of the first session and a presenter in the second session.

More than 80 people took part in the forum.

“We are proud to be co-organizers of this conference, with which, on the one hand, we build on our partnership relations with Ontotext and Identrics and, on the other, prove our commitment to the topic of disinformation, which our institute works on,” said Prof. Silvia Ilieva, director of GATE Institute.

To continue the discussion in an online environment, the organizers invite all interested parties to join a specially created channel at: https://tech-against-disinfo.slack.com/