Innovation Fund for Combating Disinformation

Together, Projor and the Google News Initiative support Brazilian journalistic organizations in creating and disseminating innovative solutions to combat disinformation.

The program focused on funding technological projects developed by local news outlets featured in the Atlas da Notícia (News Atlas).

In 2024, five Brazilian news organizations received investments of up to R$ 100,000 for projects that include fact-checking chatbots and systems for monitoring deceptive advertisements.

Digital Tools to Combat Disinformation

Technologies developed by selected media outlets aim to assist news organizations in enhancing the quality of online information.

Developed Solutions

Five Brazilian news organizations were selected by Projor to receive financial support from Codesinfo – the Innovation Fund for Combating Disinformation. Each organization received up to BRL$ 100,000 to boost new technology projects aimed at strengthening quality journalism and combating the spread of disinformation in the digital environment.

Capí

Capí fights environmental and climate disinformation through an AI-powered chatbot. Developed by experts in journalism, climate science, and artificial intelligence, the tool provides reliable and up-to-date information on climate change, its impacts, and mitigation actions.

Check-up

Check-up analyzes the presence of disinformation in health-related ads on major Brazilian news websites. The tool includes a crawler for collecting links, a scraper for capturing and archiving ads, and a thematic classifier based on an advanced language model.

Mosaico

Mosaico is a Python library designed to create and manage videos programmatically. Its interface allows users to work with media assets, position elements, apply effects, and generate video scripts. The tool offers flexibility in controlling positioning and layout, applying effects, and adding animations.

Quem Disse? (Who Said It?)

Quem Disse is a WordPress CMS plugin that provides quick and easy access to detailed information about digital content authors, including their profiles, qualifications, and publication history. It also features a database of recurring sources, such as authorities and experts, offering mini-biographies for each.

Xarta

Xarta is an open-source mini content management system (CMS) designed to keep website information up to date through embeddable context cards. It stands out for its simplicity, ease of use, and high level of customization.

Google News Initiative and Projor Launch Fund for Journalism Solutions to Combat disinformation

The Innovation Fund for Combating Disinformation is a program launched in December 2023 by Projor, sponsored by the Google News Initiative. Its goal is to distribute financial resources to be used by news organizations in developing solutions to help mitigate the problem of disinformation on the internet.

“We want to encourage the sharing of results with the community of journalists, communication researchers, and news organizations to promote a more collaborative environment and a diversity of models to fight disinformation in the country.”

Sérgio Lüdtke

President of Projor

“Fighting online disinformation is a challenge that must be tackled through a multi-sector approach, bringing together efforts from technology companies, the third sector, governments, and news organizations. Codesinfo takes another step in this direction, fostering knowledge exchange and strengthening Brazil’s online information ecosystem.”

Marco Túlio Pires

Head of Google News Lab, Brazil

FAQ

In this section, you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about Codesinfo

What is Codesinfo?

Codesinfo – Innovation Fund for Combating Disinformation is a program by Projor, funded by the Google News Initiative, aimed at developing and testing innovative projects created by Brazilian journalistic organizations to combat disinformation.

The program’s goal is to find solutions whose results can be shared with the community of journalism content producers in Brazil and replicated by other media ventures. This fosters a collaborative environment around a common objective: preventing and mitigating the spread of disinformation.

Which Projects are Funded by Codesinfo?

During the selection process, 47 proposals were evaluated based on criteria such as originality, technical feasibility, budget adequacy, degree of innovation, and the plan for sharing results. The projects funded in 2024 are:

Ambiental Media: Development of a chatbot that provides real-time information on climate change using IPCC data.
Aos Fatos: Creation of an automated monitoring tool that employs artificial intelligence (AI) to identify misleading health-related advertisements.
Folha de S.Paulo: Implementation of a system that uses AI to generate short videos from newspaper content and images.
Folha do Mate: Development of a plugin that verifies news sources and provides information about authors, including resumes and verification seals.
Núcleo Jornalismo: Creation of a plugin that automates the updating of context in already-published reports.