ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The world’s fact-checking journalists will convene in Vilnius, Lithuania, for the 13th annual GlobalFact conference from June 17 to 19. Registration for the public is now open, with tickets on sale at register.globalfactconference.org.

GlobalFact is where the fact-checking world convenes. Presented by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter, it is the largest and most influential summit of its kind — an annual gathering where professionals tackle the field’s toughest challenges, share best practices and build the connections that make fact-checking more effective everywhere.

GlobalFact 2026 will tackle the field’s defining questions: How do fact-checkers work with AI systems, both to utilize their profound capacity and to police their powers of deception? How does fact-checking survive financially without compromising independence? And how do journalists reach audiences who increasingly get their news from algorithms and chatbots? Lithuania — a regional leader in countering foreign information manipulation — provides a fitting backdrop for thinking through these questions.

Vilnius is a city that has lived with hostile state-sponsored disinformation as a daily reality, and the Russia-Ukraine war on Europe’s eastern border has only sharpened the stakes. Practitioners who have worked the information front lines of that war will bring hard-earned lessons about speed, neutrality and survival to the conversation.

“Fact-checking in the Baltic region has become a global model for resilience, and we look forward to welcoming fact-checkers from around the world to Vilnius — a city whose history gives special meaning to the fight for truth,” said IFCN director Angie Drobnic Holan. “At a time when fact-checkers have faced unfair attacks for their nonpartisan efforts, gathering in a place that understands those stakes firsthand reminds us why this work matters. We are here to support each other as we continue working for the accurate, reliable information that people need to make decisions about their everyday lives.”

The summit’s three days are built for depth and connection — presentations and discussion panels on the field’s hardest problems, alongside dedicated time to build the relationships that sustain this work. Numerous industry-leading projects and fact-checking advancements have originated through past GlobalFacts, including International Fact-Checking Day, the IFCN’s Code of Principles and partnerships with major tech companies. Since 2014, more than 4,300 people have attended GlobalFact in cities around the world including London, Buenos Aires, Madrid, Rome, Cape Town, Oslo, Seoul, Sarajevo and Rio de Janeiro.

GlobalFact 2026 is organized in collaboration with three key partners rooted in the region’s media and information landscape.

Delfi is the Baltic states’ leading digital news network, operating across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia with a long track record of investigative journalism and disinformation work.

The European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN) is the collective voice of European fact-checkers, maintaining a code of standards that defines editorial independence and best practices for fact-checking organizations across the continent. EFSCN will host special programming for its members in conjunction with GlobalFact.

LRT — Lithuania’s national public broadcaster — brings deep local credibility and reach, connecting the summit to Lithuanian audiences and the broader public interest mission that anchors this work. LRT will lead programming on a jointly organized day focused on investigative journalism.

“Information integrity is under attack from a whole range of actors across the globe. At GlobalFact, we gather at a moment when the work of fact-checkers and information integrity professionals is more important than ever, but also more threatened than ever,” said EFCSN Coordinator Stephan Mündges. “We are witnessing an AI-driven revolution in how misinformation is crafted and spread, requiring our community to adapt. For the fact-checkers globally, it is important to come together to address these challenges and work towards solutions.”

“When manipulation and disinformation go hand in hand with factual information in the public sphere, and no one even attempts to hold accountable those who massively spread propaganda through bots purchased for just a few hundred euros, we must not neglect journalism. We must especially strengthen investigative journalism, the kind that is able to trace regimes’ money and uncover how it is used to weaken democracies and suppress freedom of speech,” said Head of Investigative Journalism at LRT, Indrė Makaraitytė. “This year, the third investigative journalism festival organised by LRT is being integrated into the GlobalFact program. This means that an even larger audience will learn about the highly significant achievements, discoveries and professional experiences of journalists. Truth and the audience are what we can rely on — and they are what truly matter most.”

The International Fact-Checking Network continues to seek sponsors and other financial support for the conference. Contact globalfact@ifcn.org for details.

Tickets for GlobalFact 2026 for the public are available now at register.globalfactconference.org.

Media Contact:

Angie Drobnic Holan
Director, International Fact-Checking Network
aholan@poynter.org
+1-727-410-1770

About the International Fact-Checking Network

The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) at Poynter was launched in 2015 to bring together the growing community of fact-checkers around the world and advocates of factual information in the global fight against misinformation. We enable fact-checkers through networking, capacity building and collaboration. IFCN promotes the excellence of fact-checking to more than 100 organizations worldwide through advocacy, training and global events. Our team monitors trends in the fact-checking field to offer resources to fact-checkers, contribute to public discourse and provide support for new projects and initiatives that advance accountability in journalism. We believe truth and transparency can help people be better informed and equipped to navigate harmful misinformation.

About The Poynter Institute

The Poynter Institute is a global nonprofit working to address society’s most pressing issues by teaching journalists and journalism, covering the media and the complexities facing the industry, convening and community building, improving the capacity and sustainability of news organizations and fostering trust and reliability of information. The Institute is a gold standard in journalistic excellence and dedicated to the preservation and advancement of press freedom in democracies worldwide. Through Poynter, journalists, newsrooms, businesses, big tech corporations and citizens convene to find solutions that promote trust and transparency in news and stoke meaningful public discourse. The world’s top journalists and emerging media leaders rely on the Institute to learn new skills, adopt best practices, better serve audiences, scale operations and improve the quality of the universally shared information ecosystem.
The Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership, the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), MediaWise and PolitiFact are all members of the Poynter organization.
Support for Poynter and our entities upholds the integrity of the free press and the U.S. First Amendment and builds public confidence in journalism and media — an essential for healthy democracies. Learn more at poynter.org.