The goal is to establish a fake news prevention corps, consisting of young independent individuals that is to allocate, signalize and remove fake news in one of the most affected towns by propaganda and disinformation. By creating a program, system and protocols, we hope to give an example straight from one of the biggest sources which will lead to a nationwide corps for fake news prevention in one of the most disinformed nations in EU - independent, without any economic and political attachment

Lovech, Bulgaria

Lovech, Bulgaria is a small yet strategic with its position town that is heavily impacted by the fake news – culturally, politically and economically among other branches. There are many parties of interest that are executing a variety of instruments and techniques for disinformation which results in a local society that tends to believe fakes more than the actual facts as they tend to be perceived as untrustworthy or part of a scheme to confuse the people, as the case is exactly the opposite. As there are fake media and different portals situated in Lovech, their impact over the nearby towns – small and big – is dramatic and concerns the core democratic values of the EU, as well as direct ones towards the national security and self-awareness.

The fake news are especially dangerous for the minorities with access to internet, low and mid educated citizens and the elderly that remain convinced that everything written in any media must be true. The described parties represent a considerable portion of the Bulgarian population, therefore it affect dramatically how the society is informed and what actions it partakes in terms of its modern development. Currently Bulgaria is being placed on 111th position in the world in terms of media freedom and objectivity, alongside some African republics and dictatorship countries. It is essential for an EU member in the face of Bulgaria to raise a higher standards interiorly not only for its citizens but also in order to uphold the European values for transparency, virtues and societal growth, a

First of all, we’ll start by designing a particular educational program for the youth. We will also make sure it is adaptable for a shorter version that will be used for the social responsibility and awareness programs, executed in local and national schools ( to gain further notoriety and coverage) by closely working with the Ministry of education. After this, we’ll shortlist a number of selected motivated young citizens that will become the first crew for anti-fake news prevention. In the meantime, we’ll start designing the standard and guidelines under which the corps is going to operate, while making sure that the practices are being communicated in Bulgaria constantly.

The expected results consist of establishing the mentioned corps that will start operations immediately after gathering the necessary group of active people, as well as the broad information campaign value. Furthermore, our communication campaign will help us gain awareness nationwide and further execute the project in different towns protecting the local and national security interests and not serving any political or economical agenda. A year after successfully executing the project we will have gained enough coverage. Success will look like independent crews in every crucial town in Bulgaria. This will give a strong example to the locals too that will also signal particular occurrences in media to the corps, thus being signaled, reviewed and taken down by European institutions.

One of the major issues in Bulgaria is fake news and how advanced they are becoming in terms of plausibility. Creating a local monitoring corps in one of the most affected areas will provide an independent tool for prevention from propaganda locally by empowering young people and teaching them on methods to recognize fake news, double check and neutralize them. By doing so the prevention corps will make sure it protects properly the information cycle by constantly reviewing the news cycle alongside European organisations and thus ensuring the concerned groups are not manipulated and mislead.

Bulgaria has been lacking active measures against propaganda and corruption, sometimes reaching to the high levels of the government. The society suffers from it as it has one of the lowest life standards, unbiased and truthful media and quality of education. We are confident that our extensive knowledge and experience, contacts and authority we can contribute for a more informed and critically oriented society, therefore ensure that the European values are being upheld. It is important for such practices to start taking place in Bulgaria as soon as possible considering the fact where we stand in terms of media freedom and truthfulness in the world but also in enforcing our social responsibility in a way that protects our citizens in a world that suffers from economic and socia turmoils.

Office expenses – 3000 EUR
Public Relations – 7000 EUR
Personnel costs – 15 000 EUR
Operational costs – 10 000 EUR
Travel and accommodation expences – 3000 EUR
Development and misc. – 6000 EUR