A university seminar room, cross-referencing data, verifying sources, this is how most people imagine the craft of fact-checking during their studies. However, during our international “EUFactChecking” lab, we quickly realized that research can take on very real, highly sensitive, and geopolitical dimensions. It is an experience that taught us about the fact-checking process itself, the sudden struggles of accessing verified information, and the tangible impact of shrinking press freedom right on Europe’s doorstep.
In our module, we worked in several international small groups to analyze different claims. While our own group focused on other issues, classmates in parallel working groups hit an invisible but dangerous wall.
A Digital Footprint as a Criminal Act?
For their fact-check, the affected groups, which included students from Finland and Georgia, wanted to use reports from the renowned organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF). What began as a standard journalistic step quickly turned into a complex safety issue.
The background to this is a drastic escalation of Russian repression: On August 14, 2025, the Russian Ministry of Justice officially added Reporters Without Borders to its list of “undesirable organizations.” This classification, retroactively dated to July 23, 2025, amounts to a de facto ban on the NGO. RSF joins a registry that now includes over 250 foreign organizations.
What often looks like an abstract piece of foreign news from a Western European perspective meant a concrete, personal barrier with severe legal consequences for students from Russia’s neighboring countries:
The Legal Penalties
Anyone who financially supports or cooperates with an organization classified as “undesirable” faces harsh administrative penalties and fines under Russian law. Repeated violations can lead to criminal prosecution. Even simply sharing posts or a mere mention can trigger such proceedings.
For our Finnish peers, who regularly travel to Russia for work or leisure due to geographical proximity, a digital footprint, such as purchasing a report via a private bank account, could have led to entry bans or unpredictable reprisals at the border.
The situation is even more sensitive for our Georgian colleagues. Given current domestic political developments leaving such a financial trail could severely jeopardize their professional future and personal safety. The fact that Russia ranks 172nd out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index underscores the severity and unpredictability of these measures.
Because of this, our instructors ultimately had to step in to purchase the reports institutionally through the university. While this administrative workaround eventually secured the affected groups’ access to the data, it left a palpable sense of disillusionment among everyone in the course. The final fact checks will also not include the real names of the affected students.
A New Dimension of Urgency
Witnessing this situation triggered a deep reflection within our class about our choice of topics. In previous years, other globally dominating topics like climate change were often the focus of fact-checking.
Verifying environmental data and climate claims is of the highest social relevance and immense value. However, the topic of press freedom and geopolitics carries a completely different, immediate urgency and personal sensitivity. Fact-checking climate change involves dealing with complex statistics, but you rarely find yourself in personal danger while doing database research in a seminar room. Press freedom, on the other hand, showed us in a very tangible way that defending free information in today’s Europe is a highly volatile field.
Conclusion
It suddenly hit us how privileged and protected our position is in Germany. While our biggest worries are often submission deadlines, fellow students in the same course had to ask themselves whether using a valid source would compromise their own safety or mobility.
We experienced firsthand how the space for free research can be systematically narrowed. This makes our work in the fact-checking module more relevant than ever and proves that free access to information is a precious commodity that is increasingly coming under pressure.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE © Luca Heeren, Alina Ennen, Jade University of Applied Sciences Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Photo: picture alliance / zumapress.com / Mikhail Metzel
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