The NoFake project is a German government-funded initiative that combines academic research, journalism and artificial intelligence to combat alleged disinformation. The project received €1.31 million from BMBF, amounting to the entirety of its funding, from end of 2021 through the end of 2024. Led by CORRECTIV, which itself was backed by the noFake project network, and working in collaboration with Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund and TU Berlin, NoFake combines crowdsourcing and machine learning to identify allegedly false information across digital platforms; it hosts a page where visitors may report allegedly malicious websites.
Go back
noFake Project
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)...See all
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) See less
Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University Dortmund, CORRECTIV...See all
Ruhr University Bochum, Technical University Dortmund, CORRECTIV See less
Commentary:
Backed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the project merges AI-based detection systems with human oversight, relying on a crowdsourcing model to flag so-called "fake news." CORRECTIV, the lead partner, brings its existing advocacy role into formal alignment with public institutions, while Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund supply the technical and analytic infrastructure. The collaboration presents disinformation as a technical and moral aberration, rather than a political fact shaped by inequality or social conflict. The range of stories it checks is wide: from stray or absurd health claims to more consequential geo- or domestic political matters. By framing trust only as a function of accuracy and verification, the project reinforces a procedural vision of truth that evades deeper examination of media legitimacy itself, or the press's own institutional bias. NoFake’s posture is preventive, not reflective; it claims to automate censorship by way of artificial intelligence, and does so under the banner of an apolitical civic duty.
Backed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the project merges AI-based detection systems with human oversight, relying on a crowdsourcing model to flag so-called "fake news." CORRECTIV, the lead partner, brings its existing advocacy role into formal alignment with public institutions, while Ruhr University Bochum and TU Dortmund supply the technical and analytic infrastructure. The collaboration presents disinformation as a technical and moral aberration, rather than a political fact shaped by inequality or social conflict. The range of stories it checks is wide: from stray or absurd health claims to more consequential geo- or domestic political matters. By framing trust only as a function of accuracy and verification, the project reinforces a procedural vision of truth that evades deeper examination of media legitimacy itself, or the press's own institutional bias. NoFake’s posture is preventive, not reflective; it claims to automate censorship by way of artificial intelligence, and does so under the banner of an apolitical civic duty.
Deutsch (Sie)