IFCN director previews global summit as fact-checkers regroup in Rio de Janeiro
Alexandre de Moraes doesn’t often speak to journalists, but he has become Brazil’s top authority in the fight against misinformation. As a Supreme Court justice, Moraes has taken bold steps to stop harmful lies online, drawing global attention for his public clashes with former President Jair Bolsonaro and X owner Elon Musk. His actions are helping shape Brazil’s response to growing threats against its democracy.
Moraes will deliver the keynote address at GlobalFact 12, the world’s largest annual gathering for fact-checkers, which opens Wednesday, June 25, at Fundação Getulio Vargas in Rio de Janeiro. More than 350 fact-checkers, policymakers, academics and platform representatives, including from TikTok, will meet to discuss the challenges of misinformation at a pivotal moment. The summit follows difficult months for the fact-checking industry, marked by major funding cuts, rising harassment and the retreat of platforms from efforts to curb falsehoods.
Related Knowledge Center: Fact-checking and its detractors
Fact-checking has become a familiar tool for political reporters to hold office-holders and candidates accountable. But critics ask if fact-checkers sometimes miss the forest for the trees, and if the practice often struggles with false equivalency the way conventional political coverage does.