4.1.2 Self-regulatory measures, quality journalism and fact-checking The spread of disinformation on COVID-19 triggered various self-regulatory actions. Major social media, telecommunication and media companies issued a joint statement describing their actions and commitment to fight disinformation.232 Organisations of traditional media professionals underlined the importance of quality journalism, recalling essential ethical principles of the profession (Czech Republic,233 Germany,234 Greece,235 and Slovenia236 In Finland, a media house published advice targeting social media influencers, who have a critical role in combatting disinformation.237 Similarly, dedicated civil society organisations specialised in combatting online disinformation created focal points on COVID-19 (Austria,238 Italy,239 Germany, 240 Slovakia,241 Slovenia, 242 and Spain243). This was complemented by government action. The Czech government published guidance for journalists on factual reporting in connection with COVID19.244 In Austria, the Federal Chancellery established a “digital crisis team”, tasked with flagging and responding to disinformation related to the virus.245 It also set up an investigative network of around 20 media representatives and experts to enable exchange about disinformation;246 within one week almost 150 disinformation items were identified. 4.1.3 Public-Private partnership In some Member States, such as France,247 the government partnered with search engines and social media (Google, Qwant, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or LinkedIn) to fight disinformation online. Several social media companies added dedicated links to government websites presenting reliable information when users search COVID-19 or use a special hashtag. This is the case in Poland, for example.248 PROMISING PRACTICE The Portuguese Directorate-General for Health partnered with online fact checker “Polígrafo” to combat disinformation about the COVID-19. This partnership identifies, evaluates and classifies information that is shared publicly. All fact-checks published by Polígrafo are validated by a specialist designated by the Directorate-General. All information produced under this agreement can be freely used by other publications, provided the original source is mentioned. For more information, see the Directorate-General for Health website on this partnership 40