VILNIUS, Lithuania — Four fact-checking outlets spanning Europe and Africa won 2026 Global Fact-Checking Awards at the annual conference here June 19.
Here are the winners. A previous article cited all finalists in these categories.
Global Fact-Checking Award for Impact
For fact-checking work that resulted in significant real-world outcomes, including policy changes, corrections to the public record, accountability or shifts in public understanding of critical issues.
Pravda Association (Poland). Pravda Association’s investigation combined scientific research, expert input and on-the-ground reporting, exposing misleading medical claims and helping trigger a wide institutional response, including inspections, legal action, the removal of misleading product promotions and a decline in the campaign’s online reach.
Finalists: Estadão Verifica (Brazil); Taiwan FactCheck Center (Taiwan).
Global Fact-Checking Award for Creative Format
For innovative and engaging fact-checking presentations that use multimedia storytelling, advanced technology, data visualization or other distinctive formats to communicate findings effectively to audiences.
EFE Verifica (Spain). EFE Verifica sought to highlight the personal impacts of disinformation on the lives of 10 victims of false claims and conspiracy theories from a variety of countries and continents. “Fake News, Real Victims” told the personal stories of citizens from Europe, America, Africa and Asia through a series of articles, videos and a podcast.
Finalists: NewsMeter (India); Newtral (Spain).
Global Fact-Checking Award for Collaboration
For exceptional fact-checking work produced through collaboration across newsrooms, platforms, disciplines or international borders, resulting in groundbreaking investigations or substantially expanded impact.
TjekDet (Denmark). This project, in collaboration with CBC, Bellingcat and Politiken, looked into an urgent and rapidly growing harm associated with AI: deepfake pornography and online gender-based violence. The project combined newsroom collaboration, fact-checking expertise, interviews and advanced open-source intelligence techniques. It traced a major platform from Denmark to its owner in Canada, exposing the ecosystem behind online abuse and contributing directly to the platform’s shutdown.
Finalists: Maldita.es (Spain); and collaboration between Estadão Verifica (Brazil), La Diaria Verifica (Uruguay) and Fast Check CL (Chile).
Global Fact-Checking Award for Gold Standard
For fact-checking journalism that represents the highest standard of the craft. This category honors work that demonstrates meticulous research, rigorous verification, transparency, fairness and clarity. The winning entry sets a standard for reliability, journalistic excellence and public service.
International Centre for Investigative Reporting/FactCheckHub (Nigeria). This reporting exposed AI-assisted Ponzi schemes that caused direct financial harm to vulnerable audiences, while also revealing enforcement failures by Meta and YouTube. Some scams promised a 100% return on investment in just 30 days. The research uncovered scam funnels, fake endorsements, platform gaps and real-world consequences.
Finalists: ARIJ (Jordan); Faktisk.no (Norway).
All content must have been published between April 20, 2025, and April 21, 2026.
The judges for these categories were:
Impact: Louis Jacobson (U.S.); Awa Cheikh Faye (U.S.); Basak Bozkurt (U.K.); Marilín Gonzalo Airut (Spain); Devika Mehta (India)
Creative format: Mark Frankel (U.K.); Aistė Meidutė (Lithuania); Ellen Hine (U.S.); Kasongo Ange (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Egle Zicari (Lithuania)
Collaboration: Hui-An Ho (Taiwan/Germany); Thanos Sitistas (Greece); Emircan Saç (Turkey); Carlos Iavelberg (Brazil); Klodiana Kapo (Albania)
Gold Standard: Gülin Çavuş (Turkey); Paula Todd (Canada); Loukia Taxitari (Cyprus); Satya Priya BN (India); Franco Piccato (Argentina)