Unveiling the Evaluation Report: 'Forum against Fakes' Council Impresses with Innovation, Quality, and Networking Connectivity
The "Forum against Fakes - Together for a Strong Democracy" project, a hybrid participation experiment funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, is making strides in combating disinformation and promoting transparency in online platforms.
Originating from the "New Democracy" project, the "Forum against Fakes" project has garnered broad media and political resonance due to its large participation basis. The project combined classic citizen councils with broad, multi-stage online participation, attracting over 400,000 online participants and 120 citizen council members.
The discussions in the citizen council were factual, respectful, and solution-oriented, resulting in a citizen's report with 15 recommendations and 28 concrete measures presented to the Federal Minister of the Interior on how to deal with disinformation. Three recommendations from the citizen audit "Echo" found resonance in the coalition agreement, including measures against disinformation, hate, and incitement, as well as a proposal to ban bots and fake accounts.
The project's unique collaboration includes the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Home Affairs, the Mercator Foundation, the Michael Otto Foundation for Sustainability, t-online.de, the initiative #UseTheNews, Deutschland sicher im Netz e.V., and a project advisory board. The project set methodological standards, with moderated small groups and the integration of experts contributing to high deliberation quality.
The recommendations received high praise from both stakeholders from politics and civil society, as well as participants, who found the high quality of the project's process transformative. In fact, participation in the citizen council changed the understanding of democracy for many participants.
The "Forum against Fakes" project, evaluated by the University of Stuttgart, has been found to not only have news value but that the combination of a broad discourse with the development of concrete solutions makes the implementation of citizen proposals more likely.
As a result of the project, online platforms are to act more transparently towards authorities, and an intensified liability is being examined. The BMI is using the recommendations from the "Forum against Fakes" project to develop a new federal government strategy for dealing with disinformation.
A monitoring instrument for documenting the progress of implementing the citizen recommendations is in progress, with a citizen feedback event planned for 2025. The next Citizen Feedback Event is scheduled for October 2025. The project's website and evaluation report are available for public access.
In conclusion, the "Forum against Fakes" project is a significant step towards ensuring a stronger democracy by promoting transparency, combating disinformation, and encouraging active citizen participation.
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