AFP wins top fact-checking award at Global Fact 12

The package of stories from Manila-based reporters Ara Eugenio, Jan Cuyco and Lucille Sodipe, with editor Nattakorn “Tii” Ploddee in Bangkok, exposed how a network of decoy news sites peddled false narratives and misrepresented visuals on social media to generate ad revenue. AFP found the network sharing the posts had a combined following of over 10 million people.

The jurors at the conference, hosted by the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) in Rio de Janeiro this year, said the award “honors the highest caliber of fact-checking.” AFP’s package won “because it went beyond isolated fact checks to reveal a cross-border network that turned public anger into revenue, through a mix of readable articles and video interviews.”

The two other finalists in the category were The Washington Post for its in-depth fact-checking of a 2024 US presidential debate and India’s Digital Forensics, Research and Analytics Centre (D-FRAC) for an article dissecting a sophisticated global scam network.

Several members of AFP’s digital investigation teams, including Editor-in-Chief Julie Charpentrat, accepted the award on behalf of the Philippines and Thailand fact-checkers, who said in written remarks that the award is “a good reminder that our work is all the more crucial in these trying times, and with the rise of generative AI.”

More than 300 fact-checkers, 80 speakers and 40 sessions were expected at Global Fact 12, co-hosted by leading Brazilian fact-checking outlets including Aos Fatos, Estadão Verifica, Lupa and UOL Confere. AFP is an official partner of the event.

Watch how the award-winning investigation came together here.