1. MISSION AND CORE PRINCIPLES

• Factual truth: The central mission is to combat disinformation and inform the public based on methodologically verified facts.
• Radical transparency: The publication commits to observing full transparency regarding its sources and debunking methodology.
• Editorial independence: No political, economic or governmental pressure may influence the editorial agenda or the outcome of fact-checking.
• Impartiality: Analyses are based exclusively on evidence, free from ideological, political or geopolitical bias.

2. REJECTION OF CENSORSHIP

• Official position: Freedom of expression and the public's right to access accurate information are core to our mission. We will firmly reject any attempt to censor our content, regardless of the source of such pressure.
• External pressure: No state authority, political party, corporation, interest group or tech platform has the right to request the modification, deletion or blocking of content published by Veridica.
• Editorial protection: The Veridica Board acts as a legal and public shield against any intimidation attempts, abusive litigation (such as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation - SLAPPs), or economic threats intended to compel censorship or self-censorship among our journalists.

3. DEFINING PUBLIC INTEREST

Public interest is the primary criterion based on which Veridica’s editorial team selects topics for analysis and investigation, focusing on those that directly affect community well-being and the democratic functioning of society.

Priority areas of public interest for Veridica:

• National and regional security: Disinformation campaigns coordinated by hostile state or non-state actors aimed at destabilizing institutions or fracturing social cohesion.
• Democratic and electoral processes: Safeguarding the integrity of the vote by debunking narratives designed to influence voter choice or undermine trust in democracy.
• Public health and safety: Prioritizing the verification of fake news in the fields of medicine, food safety or the management of crises and natural disasters.
• Use of public funds and corruption: Investigating how government or European funds are used to finance political propaganda or disinformation networks.
• Human rights and minority protection: Combating hate speech, xenophobia and discrimination fueled by distorted media coverage.

4. SPECIFIC DEBUNKING AND FACT-CHECKING STANDARDS

5. THE STATUS OF CONTRIBUTORS

• Local risk assessment: The physical, digital and legal safety of contributors operating in fragile democracies or authoritarian regimes is a priority.
• Preserving anonymity: The use of pseudonyms or the omission of bylines is permitted whenever editorial activity jeopardizes the life or freedom of a contributor.
• Immunity to pressure: Local contributors must have no active political affiliations or financial ties to governmental structures in the countries under scrutiny.
• Neutralizing historical bias: Analyses concerning the post-communist space must remain strictly analytical, avoiding rhetoric based on historical grievances and focusing strictly on present-day disinformation.
• Metadata scrubbing: Prior to publishing any image, document or video obtained from high-risk zones, the editorial team shall scrub all metadata to safeguard the identity of sources and contributors.

6. INTEGRITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FUNDING

• Refusal of privileges: Journalists and contributors shall not accept gifts, services, personal sponsorships or paid travel from entities that are subject to monitoring.
• Separation of advertising: Sponsored content or funding grants cannot influence investigation outcomes. Local advertising is strictly prohibited in the debunking section.
• Incompatibilities: Staff members may not engage in political consulting, PR for political parties or lobbying campaigns.

7. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND RIGHT OF REPLY

• Automatic right of reply: Whenever an entity or individual is directly accused of spreading disinformation, an official statement will be requested from them prior to publication.
• Presumption of innocence: A clear distinction is made between journalistic error (false news) and deliberate disinformation campaigns (fake news with malicious intent).

8. CORRECTION POLICY (CORRECTIONS)

• Prompt acknowledgment: If a fact-check contains a factual error, it will be corrected within a maximum of 48 hours of notification.
• Visible markings: Corrections will not be made discreetly. The article will feature a visible note at the top (“CORRECTION NOTE: ...”), detailing what was modified and why.

9. GOVERNANCE OF THE CODE: THE VERIDICA BOARD – HONORARY COUNCIL

• The role of the Board: The publication's Editorial and Management Board directly takes on the duties of the Honorary Council, acting as the ultimate guarantor of political independence and ethical integrity.
• Dispute resolution: The Board reviews and resolves any challenge raised by the public, subjects of debunking or third-party institutions regarding the accuracy of our fact-checks.
• Protection of contributors: The Board serves as a legal and institutional shield for journalists and contributors operating in former communist states, evaluating security risks and ruling on signature anonymization.
• Internal sanctions: In cases of severe breaches of this code (plagiarism, fabrication of evidence, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or partisan political agendas), the Board holds exclusive authority to terminate collaboration with the contributor and publish a notice of accountability and disavowal.

Procedure for resolving disputes:

1. Contact: Any request for correction or right of reply must be submitted to the editorial department's address.
2. Review: The article's author and the editor analyze new evidence submitted by the complainant against Veridica's methodology.
3. Board ruling: If a dispute is not resolved at editorial level, the Board convenes on an emergency basis to issue a verdict based strictly on facts.
4. Transparency: The final decision is communicated to the public. If an error occurred, the Correction Policy is applied immediately.

10. READER ALERT PROCEDURE

Any reader or institution can report disinformation directly to Veridica through:

Criteria for validating alerts:

• Link or source: The exact URL, publication title, social network or a clear screenshot of the misleading content.
• Challenged statement: Precise indication of the sentence, image or narrative alleged to be false.
• Initial evidence/argument: A brief explanation or alternative source raising suspicion of falsehood (optional, but recommended).

11. SOCIAL MEDIA CODE OF PRINCIPLES FOR CONTRIBUTORS

The public and private online activity of journalists and contributors directly reflects Veridica's credibility. In the digital sphere, contributors must remain neutral arbiters, not activists.

Rules of impartiality and interaction:

• Prohibition of partisanship: Contributors are not permitted to publicly express political, geopolitical or ideological bias. Posting messages of support for parties, candidates or political movements in monitored states is strictly prohibited.
• Preserving independence in comments: Engaging in online disputes (“flame wars”), insults or heated debates in comment sections is forbidden. Any criticism directed at Veridica articles will be politely referred to the official right-of-reply procedure.
• The golden rule of “likes” and “shares”: Sharing or liking propaganda or radical political views can be construed as endorsement. Contributors may share disinformation solely as a case study, explicitly labeling the text as such.