Break the Fake! Building Media Resilience for LGBTQIA+ Community

Project duration: January 2025 – September 2025
Donor: Association Zašto ne, with the support of the European Union
Project value: EUR 11.960

Project description: The main objective of the project is to combat disinformation by empowering LGBTQIA+ persons to recognize harmful media narratives, as well as through cooperation with media professionals aimed at promoting ethical journalism. The project is focused on strengthening media literacy within the LGBTQIA+ community, enabling it to recognize and resist fake news. In addition, the project encourages cooperation with media professionals in the joint development of a Declaration on Media Responsibility in Reporting on LGBTQIA+ Issues, which contains a set of ethical standards, concrete obligations, and accountability mechanisms in order to ensure responsible and inclusive reporting on LGBTQIA+ topics.

As a result of the project, four workshops were held with the participation of 60 LGBTQIA+ persons, who learned from media professionals how to recognize fake news and disinformation. Two meetings were held with 10 media professionals from different media outlets in Serbia, with whom the Declaration on Media Responsibility in Reporting on LGBTQIA+ Issues was jointly developed. A detailed and professional monitoring of media and online portals in Serbia was conducted, and over 50 cases of fake news and disinformation about LGBTQIA+ persons were documented. A toolkit on ways to identify and combat fake news and disinformation was developed.