This call for partners closed on February 16, 2025
Starting Date: 1 March 2025
Duration: 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026
Location: Sri Lanka
Background
Democracy Reporting International (DRI) is a non-partisan, independent, not-for-profit organisation registered in Berlin. DRI promotes political participation of citizens, accountability of state bodies, and the development of democratic institutions worldwide.
DRI’s Digital Democracy team works to protect and promote democratic debate online. Through our offices and projects around the globe, we are working for open debate and against severe political polarisation. We aim to make the tech transformation of public discourse compatible with democracy. We analyse and monitor online discourse, especially around elections and the rise of AI; train digital researchers around the world and strengthen the capacity of partner organisations; conduct risk assessments and engage in policy and regulatory work with policymakers and tech companies.
In the project Strengthening Resilience against Disinformation in Sri Lanka, DRI in collaboration with partner Factum, will monitor and analyse online political discourse and elections and report harmful content online (e.g. inauthentic behaviour, disinformation and hate speech incidents) to tech platforms. The project is funded by the European Union and will implement digital democracy activities in Sri Lanka until June 2026.
Together with selected partners, DRI and Factum will establish the Digital Democracy Mechanism (DDM) to detect harmful content online, debunk and formulate counter-narratives as well as advocate for platform transparency and accountability.
Information session: DRI and Factum organised information sessions about the call on 27 January, at 10:00 in Colombo Sri Lanka and 10 February 2025 at 14:30, Colombo, Sri Lanka time. If you have questions about the published call for partners, please contact Sorina Matei, s.matei@democracy-reporting.org.
Objectives and expected outcomes
We are looking for 4 organisations (FSTPs – Financially Supported Third Parties) to contribute to 4 activities aimed at increasing the transparency and accuracy of the political discourse online. The specific objective is to capacitate local Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in detecting, exposing and preventing the negative impacts of disinformation and hate speech in the electoral process, based on a strong partnership with DRI and Factum. The expected results of this collaboration are:
- A steady transfer of knowledge of methods, expertise and tools between DRI and Factum and FSTPs through a learning by doing approach that ensures both the relevance of project activities and the overall sustainability of the Action;
- Coordinated efforts and initiatives that create positive changes at the national and grassroots level;
- Empowered CSOs to act as engagement multipliers, bringing other grassroots groups and leaders involved in this project.
As such, this call is divided into four thematic lots. We invite interested organisations to review the specific focus areas and apply for the lot that aligns with their expertise and capacity. Applicants are welcome to submit applications for multiple lots; however, they will only be considered for selection to work on one lot.
We are now extending the deadline for Lots 1 and 2 until 26 February 2025, 09:00 a.m. Berlin time. Please note that we will no longer be reviewing applications for Lots 3 and 4.
| Lots | Activity timeline | Application deadline |
| Lot #1: Fact-checking | 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026 | Extended Deadline |
| Lot #2: Election observation | 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026 | Extended Deadline |
| Lot #3: Capacity building for digital media and outlets | 1 April 2025 – 30 April 2026 | Closed Tender (no longer accepting applications) |
| Lot #4: Social media monitoring | 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026 | Closed Tender (no longer accepting applications) |
Lot #1 Fact-checking – Extended Deadline
Specific objective:
Partner organisation based in Sri Lanka (FSTP) will conduct fact-checking activities at regional and grassroots level with Sinhala and Tamil groups by training and deploying 50 fact-checkers from diverse regions.
The partner is expected to build a skilled network capable of identifying, verifying and reporting harmful electoral content in real-time, enhancing transparency and accountability during the electoral process. This initiative will equip fact-checkers with tools to report harmful content directly to platforms and relevant organisations. The methodology shall include approaches such as sentiment analysis, topic modeling and network analysis to respond to disinformation effectively.
Partnership agreement: 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026
Main activities to be conducted by FSTP Fact-checking
- Develop or adapt the Action’s methodology for fact-checking.
- Train and deploy 50 hired local fact-checkers for implementing debunking activities.
- Debunking activities conducted with members of the Sinhala and Tamil groups in two elections.
- Submit and publish 12 fact-checking reports on two elections following the Action’s quality assurance and visibility guidelines.
- Report harmful content online related to mis-/disinformation and hate speech to tech companies.
- Be a member of the Digital Democracy Mechanism (DDM) and of the debunking and counter-narratives working group.
- Evaluation activities to assess the success of the training programme, as well as the impact of the fact-checking activities (interviews, focus groups, surveys, collection of Most Significant Change stories etc)
Deliverables and KPIs
- Finalised and approved fact-checking methodology
- Fact-checking workshops with detailed session plans and attendance sheets
- 50 fact-checkers from the Sinhala and Tamil groups involved in monitoring two elections
- 12 fact-checking reports on two elections following the Action’s quality assurance and visibility guidelines
- 250 notifications and requests submitted to tech companies to remove illegal or harmful content online related to mis-/disinformation and hate speech.
- Two technical reports submitted to DRI summarising the activities and results achieved.
- 60% of training participants report improvement in their ability to debunk false narratives and report electoral harmful content.
Profile and Requirements
In order to be eligible, applicants must be/have:
- Be legal persons and Non-profit making
- CSO/think tank or research institution registered in Sri Lanka
- Proven experience of projects of comparable nature (focused on elections, digital democracy, debunking false narratives etc)
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of the political and election context and trends in Sri Lanka
- Solid understanding of online threats to democracy (information manipulation, online hateful content, synthetic media, foreign interference)
- Well-connected at national and local level, proven track record of stakeholder engagement (government, civil society partners, election commission, community leaders etc.)
- Good media presence in Sri Lanka (social media, contact with journalists)
Maximum budget: 60,000.00 EUR
Examples of potential eligible expenses:
- Staff salaries
- Expert contracts and fees (e.g. trainers, fees for fact-checkers)
- Travel and accommodation expenses
- Publication costs (e.g. editing, graphic design)
- Equipment
- Training costs (venue, catering, other services)
- Consumables
How to apply
Please send your application to tender@democracy-reporting.org with the subject, ‘’FSTP Fact-checking’’ by 26 February 2025 at 9.00a.m. Please include the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (consent of working as a partner)
- Official registration document
- Organigram with segregation of duties
- CVs of the team members to be deployed in the project
- Financial, Accounting, Procurement, HR Manuals
- Proof of possession of a functional bank account which can be validated through a letter issued by the bank or similar kind of document
- Project completion certificates.
- Annual Financial Audited Statements (for last three fiscal years).
- Completed Application Form
- Completed budget of maximum 60,000.00 EUR.
Lot #2 Election observation and advocacy – Extended Deadline
Specific objective:
Partner organisation based in Sri Lanka (FSTP) will conduct advocacy workshops with grassroots leaders and groups on election observation to monitor and report harmful content online.
The partner is expected to strengthen the resilience of local communities to mis-/disinformation by developing a skilled network of election observers at the grassroots level. This initiative will equip observers with tools to detect mis-/disinformation and hate speech on open source or digital media platforms, provincial and messenger platforms.
Partnership agreement: 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026
Main activities to be conducted by FSTP Election observation and advocacy
- Develop or adapt the Action’s methodology for election observation.
- Train and deploy 30 hired grassroots leaders for implementing election observation.
- Organise and instruct four advocacy workshops for grassroots leaders (Sinhala and Tamil speaking groups) for reporting electorally harmful content to the DDM and tech platforms
- Rerform election observation on online discourse, disinformation and hate speech detected on open source or digital media platforms, provincial and messenger platforms (2 elections).
- Submit and publish 2 election observation reports on two elections following the Action’s quality assurance and visibility guidelines.
- Become a member of the DDM and of the detection working group.
- Evaluation activities to assess the success of the advocacy workshops, as well as the impact of the election observation activities (interviews, focus groups, surveys, collection of Most Significant Change stories etc)
Deliverables and KPIs
- Finalised and approved methodology for election observation
- Four completed advocacy workshops with detailed session plans and attendance sheets.
- Two reports presenting findings from the election observation on online discourse, disinformation and hate speech detected on opensource or digital media platforms, provincial and messenger platforms (2 elections)
- Two technical reports submitted to DRI summarising the activities and results achieved.
Profile and Requirements
In order to be eligible, applicants must be/have:
- Be legal persons and Non-profit making
- CSO/think tank or research institution registered in Sri Lanka
- Proven experience of projects of comparable nature (focused on election observation, digital democracy, rule of law etc)
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of the political and election context and trends in Sri Lanka
- Solid understanding of online threats to democracy (information manipulation, online hateful content, synthetic media, foreign interference)
- Well-connected, proven track record of stakeholder engagement at the grassroots level (local government, grassroots groups etc)
- Good media presence in Sri Lanka (social media, contact with journalists)
Maximum Budget: 40,000.00 EUR
Examples of potential expenses:
- Staff salaries
- Expert contracts and fees (trainers, observers etc)
- Travel and accommodation expenses
- Publication costs (e.g. editing, graphic design)
- Equipment
- Training costs (venue, catering, other services)
- Consumables
How to apply
Please send your application to tender@democracy-reporting.org with the subject, ‘’FSTP Election observation and advocacy’’ by 26 February 2025 at 09:00a.m. Berlin time.
Please include the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (consent of working as a partner)
- Official registration document
- Organigram with segregation of duties
- CVs of the team members to be deployed in the project
- Financial, Accounting, Procurement, HR Manuals
- Proof of possession of a functional bank account which can be validated through a letter issued by the bank or similar kind of document.
- Project completion certificates.
- Annual Financial Audited Statements (for last three fiscal years).
- Completed Application Form
- Completed budget of maximum 40,000.00 EUR.
Lot #3 Capacity building for digital media and outlets – Closed Tender (no longer accepting applications)
Specific objective:
Partner organisation based in Sri Lanka (FSTP) will capacitate national and regional newsrooms and digital media outlets with the tools and knowledge needed to navigate evolving legal frameworks, including revised election media guidelines, new laws on campaign financing for digital political advertising, and the ethical use of generative AI to ensure information integrity.
The partner is expected to organise 20 information sessions, targeting key media personnel (journalists, chief-editors and other key media staff) from prominent newsrooms and digital media outlets in and outside Colombo to ensure comprehensive coverage and enhance the impact across diverse communities. The information sessions will also improve the ability of the target groups to understand and identify threats to election integrity (such as mis-/disinformation, hate speech etc).
Partnership agreement: 1 March 2025 – 30 April 2026
Main activities to be conducted by FSTP Capacity building for digital media and outlets
- Develop or adapt the Action’s methodology for media capacity building
- Organise and implement 20 information sessions on compliance with the revised election media guidelines, the new laws on campaigning financing related to digital political advertising and information accuracy and the use of generative AI during the campaign.
- Publish 2 blog-style articles on the organisation’s website highlighting the activities and results of the information sessions.
- Become a member of the DDM and of the detection working group.
- Evaluation activities to assess the success of the information sessions (interviews, focus groups, surveys, collection of Most Significant Change stories etc).
Deliverables and KPIs
- Finalised and approved methodology for capacity building.
- 20 information sessions on compliance with media guidelines and to improve journalistic accuracy and integrity (10 information sessions held in Colombo and 10 sessions held in other regions and cities, targeting key media personnel from prominent newsrooms and digital platforms)
- Each session is attended by at least 15 participants.
- 300 participants equipped with tools to enhance content integrity and compliance throughout the election period.
- 60% of media staff/participants report improvement in their ability to understand and identify threats to election integrity.
- 2 blog-style articles on the organisation’s website highlighting the activities and results of the information sessions.
- Assessment reports (pre-/post-information sessions) to evaluate the baseline knowledge and earned capacity.
- Two technical reports submitted to DRI summarising the activities and results achieved.
Profile and Requirements
In order to be eligible, applicants must be/have:
- Be legal persons and Non-profit making
- CSO/think tank or research institution registered in Sri Lanka
- Proven experience of projects of comparable nature (focused on elections, digital democracy, media legislation and compliance, rule of law etc)
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of the political and election context and trends in Sri Lanka
- Solid understanding of online threats to democracy (information manipulation, online hateful content, synthetic media, foreign interference)
- Well-connected, proven track record of stakeholder engagement (legacy media, digital media outlets, journalists, civil society partners etc)
- Good media presence in Sri Lanka (social media, contact with journalists)
Maximum Budget: 52,000.00 EUR
Examples of potential expenses:
- Staff salaries
- Expert contracts and fees (such as trainers)
- Travel and accommodation expenses
- Equipment
- Training costs (venue, catering, other services)
- Consumables
How to apply
Please send your application to tender@democracy-reporting.org with the subject, ‘’FSTP Capacity building for digital media and outlets’’ by 16 February 2025. Please include the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (consent of working as a partner)
- Official registration document
- Organigram with segregation of duties
- CVs of the team members to be deployed in the project
- Financial, Accounting, Procurement, HR Manuals
- Proof of possession of a functional bank account which can be validate through a letter issued by the bank or similar kind of document.
- Project completion certificates.
- Annual Financial Audited Statements (for last three fiscal years).
- Completed Application Form
- Completed budget of maximum 52,000.00 EUR.
Lot #4 Social media monitoring – Closed Tender (no longer accepting applications)
Partner organisation based in Sri Lanka will monitor the political online discourse and identify, as well as report harmful content online (mis-/disinformation, hate speech, inauthentic accounts and illegal political advertising) on the most popular social media platforms in Sri Lanka – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube. Extended social media monitoring methodology and activities will be coordinated with DRI and Factum for two upcoming elections.
The partner will identify key data sources, such as political parties and candidates, media personalities etc, and perform analyses of posting frequency and engagement metrics. The partner is also expected to have or build its capacity to analyse large sets of social media data and employ more advanced techniques (sentiment analysis, topic modeling, network tracking) to offer a fine-grained understanding of debates taking place online. The
Partnership agreement: 1 March 2025 – 30 Apri 2026
Main activities to be conducted by FSTP Election social media monitoring
- Inform or adapt the Action’s methodology for social media monitoring
- Collaborate closely with DRI and Factum on conducting social media monitoring (SMM) of elections and key political events on the most popular platforms in Sri Lanka – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube
- Co-author and publish 10 election social media monitoring reports.
- Submit 250 notifications and requests to tech companies to remove illegal or harmful content online related to mis-/disinformation and hate speech
- Evaluation activities to assess the success of the social media monitoring programme (collection of Most Significant Change stories etc)
- Be a member of the DDM and of the detection working group
Deliverables and KPIs
- Finalised and approved methodology for social media monitoring.
- 10 election social media monitoring reports
- 250 notifications and requests submitted to tech companies to remove illegal or harmful content online related to mis-/disinformation and hate speech
- Two technical reports submitted to DRI summarising the activities and results achieved.
Profile and Requirements
In order to be eligible, applicants must be/have:
- Be legal persons and Non-profit making
- CSO/think tank or research institution registered in Sri Lanka
- Proven experience of projects of comparable nature (focused on elections, digital democracy, rule of law etc)
- Excellent knowledge and understanding of the political and election context and trends in Sri Lanka
- Solid understanding of online threats to democracy (information manipulation, online hateful content, synthetic media, foreign interference)
- Proven expertise and technical skills to conduct social media monitoring, including data collection, analysis and visualisation.
- Well connected, proven track record of stakeholder engagement (government, civil society partners, election bodies etc)
- Good media presence in Sri Lanka (social media, contact with journalists)
Maximum budget: 30,000.00 EUR
Examples of potential expenses:
- Staff salaries
- Expert contracts and fees (such as data analysts /scientists etc)
- Publication costs (e.g. editing, graphic design)
- Equipment
- Digital tools (APIs, data visualisation etc)
- Consumables
How to apply
Please send your application to tender@democracy-reporting.org with the subject, ‘’FSTP Election social media monitoring’’ by 16 February 2025. Please include the following documents:
- Letter of Interest (consent of working as a partner)
- Official registration document
- Organigram with segregation of duties
- CVs of the team members to be deployed in the project
- Financial, Accounting, Procurement, HR Manuals
- Proof of possession of a functional bank account which can be validate through a letter issued by the bank or similar kind of document
- Project completion certificates.
- Annual Financial Audited Statements (for last three fiscal years).
- Completed Application Form
- Completed budget of maximum 30,000.00 EUR.
This call for partners closed on February 16, 2025
