BEIJING, November 7. /TASS/. TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov has invited interested media outlets, journalists, and independent experts to join the Global Fact-Checking Network (GFCN).

"I would like to take this opportunity to invite all interested news agencies, TV channels, print and digital publications, as well as individual journalists and independent experts, to join our association," Kondrashov said at the opening ceremony of the 7th World Media Summit at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital.

He said that TASS had co-founded GFCN, which already unites more than 130 experts from 55 countries.

According to Kondrashov, the association uses artificial intelligence, among other things, to identify unreliable materials at the early stages of their distribution. Its specialists also strive to identify the original source of a fake, trace the chain of its distribution and find out how it was launched into the information space.

As the TASS CEO noted, participation in the association is free; potential members are not presented with political conditions, they are not required to "undergo an ideological reliability check," and they are not asked to "demonstrate loyalty to any country or political movement." The association, he said, operates in accordance with professional requirements and a Code of Responsible Fact Checking, but its foundation is not political declarations, but "respect for facts, verifiability of sources, and the desire to convey reliable information to the audience."

In his speech, Kondrashov described disinformation as "one of the most serious threats to the modern information space." It is used to undermine trust in state institutions, exacerbate social contradictions, and create a deliberately distorted picture of what is happening. At the same time, he expressed the belief that expanding the international professional community would make it possible to more effectively counter common challenges.

Kondrashov noted that the media’s capabilities in combating disinformation vary significantly. Large international agencies, he noted, have numerous editorial offices, a network of correspondents, archives, and technical infrastructure, whereas not every regional or national media outlet can afford this. "We are convinced that countering fake news should not be just an internal matter for individual editorial offices. This is an area where the exchange of experience and the pooling of resources are especially important," the agency’s CEO said.

About the media summit

The 7th World Media Summit, dedicated to cooperation among media outlets in the era of artificial intelligence, is taking place in Beijing from November 5 to 9. It is organized by the Xinhua News Agency and the Beijing government. The summit brings together about 500 representatives from nearly 330 leading media outlets, think tanks, government agencies, the UN, and other international organizations from 112 countries and regions. The program includes an opening ceremony, a high-level dialogue, a plenary session, thematic forums, a science and technology exhibition, a photo exhibition, and cultural events.

The TASS delegation, headed by Kondrashov, is participating in the summit. The agency is part of the presidium of the media summit, which has been held since 2009, and was also among the nine media organizations that initiated its creation.