Portugal’s Main News Agency Arms Itself Against Fake-News

At a moment when manipulated photos, AI-generated audio and fast-moving social media rumours can cross a continent before lunch, Portugal’s national news agency, Lusa, has rolled out a dedicated fact-checking desk called Lusa Verifica. Announced in late 2024 and fully operational this year, the unit is designed to flag misleading claims from public figures and viral posts alike, classifying each item as True, False or True, but…—the last category reserved for statements that are technically accurate yet stripped of crucial context.

A Brief Guide to Lusa for Newcomers

For many foreigners the name Lusa may be unfamiliar, yet its cables underpin much of the Portuguese media ecosystem. Founded in 1986 after the fall of the dictatorship and Portugal’s transition to democracy, the agency supplies text, photo and video reports to virtually every newspaper, radio station and news site in the country. Because editors depend on Lusa’s wire to plan coverage, the agency’s reputation for neutrality carries unusual weight in a media market where most outlets are privately owned and highly competitive.

How the New Platform Operates

Lusa Verifica is staffed by journalists trained in digital forensics, reverse-image searches and database research. When a quotation from a cabinet minister or a viral graphic about immigration trends is flagged, the team reconstructs the original context, checks primary documents and consults independent experts. Each verdict is published on a dedicated microsite and distributed through the agency’s wire so that partner outlets—and readers—see the correction as quickly as the claim itself. The editors say the service will also pursue certification from the European Fact-Checking Standards Network and the International Fact-Checking Network, two bodies that audit transparency and methodology.

The Impact

About one in ten people now living in Portugal were born abroad, and English-language social media groups, WhatsApp chains and neighbourhood forums often circulate posts that blend legitimate grievances—such as housing prices in Lisbon or new visa rules—with unverified statistics. A verified clearing-house in Portuguese and English can help newcomers separate fact from speculation before they share an alarming headline with friends back home or make costly relocation decisions.

A Regional and Global Fight Against Disinformation

Southern Europe has faced a surge of coordinated online campaigns, from false wildfire maps aimed at tourists to deep-fake videos surrounding EU elections. By joining the handful of European news agencies that run in-house fact-checking desks—AFP in France and EFE in Spain among them—Lusa is slotting Portugal into a continent-wide response. The agency is also collaborating with ISCTE–University Institute of Lisbon’s MediaLab, which has monitored deceptive content during national campaigns since 2024, ensuring that the research community feeds new detection tools back into the newsroom.

How to Follow the Checks

Readers can browse the verdicts at combatefakenews.lusa.pt, subscribe to Lusa Verifica alerts or look for the new labels in partner publications. For expatriates who rely on English-language outlets, several Portuguese newspapers now publish bilingual digests, and Lusa says translations of high-profile fact-checks will follow later this summer.

What Comes Next

Media executives argue that the project is not just a defensive measure against bad information but an attempt to rebuild public confidence. In a country where trust in traditional institutions dipped during the pandemic, Lusa hopes its explicit ratings system will encourage citizens—and the growing foreign community—to weigh evidence before forwarding a claim. As the 2026 presidential race approaches, the real test will be whether voters, residents and even the politicians themselves adopt the habit of clicking Verifica before believing the boldest statements they see online.