Stowarzyszenie Demagog

Stowarzyszenie Demagog is a Polish non-profit association dedicated to fact-checking, combating disinformation, and monitoring the truthfulness of public statements by politicians. It is described as the oldest fact-checking organization in Poland. The association was formally registered in the National Court Register on 29 April 2016, but it has operated the demagog.pl portal since 2014. Through this portal, it publishes verified statements by politicians, checks electoral promises, and analyzes and debunks fake news and disinformation. It also conducts workshops and educational projects under the name Academy of Fact-Checking. The organization is a signatory of the European Code of Practice on Disinformation (2022) and the Polish Code of Good Practices in the Fight against Disinformation. Since May 2019, it has been a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) and the fact-checking community of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). In September 2019, Demagog joined Facebook's Independent Fact-Checking Program, aimed at preventing the spread of fraud and fake news on Facebook. Together with four other fact-checking organizations from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, it is part of the consortium creating the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). Demagog's portal covers topics such as health disinformation, false information about the war in Ukraine and Russian propaganda, climate disinformation, disinformation targeting minority and protected groups, technology disinformation (e.g., 5G), conspiracy theories, and fraud. It evaluates politicians' statements with one of five ratings: true, false, partial truth, manipulation, or unverifiable. The organization also runs the "Fakty o klimacie" (Climate Facts) project, the "Akademia Fact-checkingu" (Academy of Fact-Checking) educational initiative, and a podcast series. It collaborates with technology platforms such as Meta, Kinzen, and Spotify to analyze potentially harmful content and hate speech in Polish. In February 2026, it announced a new online quarterly magazine called "Obiektyw". As a non-profit association, Demagog is not a listed company and does not have a traditional corporate owner. Its statutory goals include spreading civil society ideals, exercising civic control, monitoring the transparency of public debate, protecting civil liberties, supporting citizen participation, and promoting research methods. The organization is based in Poland and operates primarily in the Polish language, with a focus on Polish public debate.

Stowarzyszenie Demagog was registered in the National Court Register on 29 April 2016 under number 0000615583. However, the organization has operated the demagog.pl portal since 2014, making it the oldest fact-checking organization in Poland. The portal publishes verified statements by politicians, checks electoral promises, and analyzes and debunks fake news and disinformation. As part of its fight against fake news, it also conducts workshops and educational projects under the name Academy of Fact-Checking. Since May 2019, Demagog has been a member of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), which was established in 2015 at the Poynter Institute in Florida and oversees the standards of editorial work. To become an IFCN member, the association had to undergo a verification procedure for impartiality, transparency of sources, funding, organization, and methodology. Each IFCN member commits to adhering to specific principles. In September 2019, Demagog joined Facebook's Independent Fact-Checking Program, aimed at preventing the spread of fraud and fake news on Facebook. As part of the EFCSN project, in the summer of 2022 the European fact-checking community adopted the European Code of Standards for Fact-Checking. Demagog is a signatory of the European Code of Practice on Disinformation from 2022 and the Polish Code of Good Practices in the Fight against Disinformation. It also belongs to the fact-checking community of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO). Together with four other fact-checking organizations from Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, it is part of the consortium creating the European Fact-Checking Standards Network (EFCSN). From 2014 to 2024, Demagog's fact-checkers verified nearly 6,000 statements by public figures and prepared almost 3,000 analyses and reports debunking fake news. The organization runs several projects, including the "Fakty o klimacie" (Climate Facts) project, which was created under the Climate Misinformation Grant Program run by IFCN and Meta, together with Crazy Nauka and Grupa Defence24, to counter climate disinformation. The "Akademia Fact-checkingu" (Academy of Fact-Checking) is an educational project offering workshops and training (both on-site and online) on searching and verifying information, assessing source credibility, and online tools in the fight against fake news. By the end of 2022, about 6,500 students, nearly 1,000 teachers, and about 600 seniors from Poland had participated in workshops and lectures. An e-learning educational platform was also launched as part of the academy. The Demagog Podcast is a series of podcasts where experts, journalists, and scientists are invited to talk about fake news, conspiracy theories, and Russian propaganda. Demagog collaborates with technology platforms. It is a partner of Meta in the Independent Fact-Checking Program. Since 2022, it has also cooperated with Kinzen and, since the same year, continued to support the team after its acquisition by Spotify. It analyzes potentially harmful content and hate speech in Polish. On 18 February 2026, Demagog announced a new project called "Obiektyw", an online quarterly magazine focusing on analyzing disinformation mechanisms, mapping connections, and providing context and sources of manipulation. The first issue, titled "Sieć" (Network), was published in early March 2026 on the website Obiektyw.org.pl. The association's statutory goals include spreading, developing, and realizing the idea of civil society; exercising civic control through watchdog activities; monitoring the transparency of public debate; disseminating and protecting civil liberties and actions supporting the development of democracy, with particular emphasis on the right to access public information; supporting citizen participation in public life and grassroots local movements; and developing and promoting research methods.

• 2026

  Announced new project 'Obiektyw' on 18 February; first issue published in early March.

• 2022

  European fact-checking community adopted the European Code of Standards for Fact-Checking in summer.

• 2022

  Began cooperation with Kinzen and continued support after its acquisition by Spotify.

• 2019

  Joined the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in May.

• 2019

  Joined Facebook's Independent Fact-Checking Program in September.

• 2016

  Registered in the National Court Register on 29 April 2016 under number 0000615583.

• 2014

  Started operating the demagog.pl portal.

Non-profit, non-partisan fact-checking and anti-disinformation organization.

• demagog.org.pl portal

  Fact-checking portal publishing verified statements, debunking fake news, and checking electoral promises.

• Akademia Fact-checkingu

  Educational project with workshops and training on information verification.

• Fakty o klimacie

  Project countering climate disinformation, run under IFCN and Meta's Climate Misinformation Grant Program.

• Podcast Demagoga

  Podcast series featuring experts, journalists, and scientists discussing fake news and disinformation.

• Obiektyw

  Online quarterly magazine analyzing disinformation mechanisms, launched in 2026.

1. 1DEMAGOG - fakty są najważniejsze! Weryfikujemy i kontrolujemy.demagog.org.pl
2. 2Stowarzyszenie Demagogwikidata.org
3. 3Stowarzyszenie Demagogpl.wikipedia.org