THE WAR IN UKRAINE AND IMMIGRATION ARE THE MOST TARGETED TOPICS IN FEBRUARY
The 32 organizations* part of the EDMO fact-checking network that contributed to this brief published a total of 1.253 fact-checking articles in February 2026. Out of these articles, 106 (8%) focused on Ukraine-related disinformation; 75 (6%) on disinformation related to immigration; 49 (4%) on disinformation related to the EU; 40 (3%) on climate change-related disinformation; 28 (2%) on disinformation about LGBTQ+ and gender issues; 23 (2%) on COVID-19-related disinformation; and 11 (1%) on the crisis in Gaza.
During the month of February, false news related to the war in Ukraine increased by two percentage points. This made it the most targeted topic by disinformation, shortly followed by the false news on immigration, that slightly increased compared to January. Meanwhile, disinformation targeting the EU decreased by three percentage points.
The share of disinformation on the other topics monitored by these briefs remained stable, with only minor fluctuations.
Four years after Russia’s invasion, the war in Ukraine is still a constant target of pro-Russian disinformation actors in Europe. The Winter Olympics of Milan-Cortina, from which Russia was excluded, were used as an occasion to spread false news on Ukrainian athletes. False claims circulated that the Ukrainian delegation was housed separately from other participants, and that many athletes did not return back to Ukraine after the games....
Police have launched an investigation into alleged false accusation by Park Cheol-min, a former member of the Seongnam International Mafia. Park, ahead of the 2022 presidential election, raised al...