The American University team "Sixth Sense" lead by AFP Fact Check reporter Bozhidar Angueloff won Disinfohack 2026. Re-watch the grand finale here

A little over a month after the start of DisInfoHack 2026—the second edition of the slow research hackathon on information integrity and countering disinformation—the seven teams in the competition and the all-star DisInfoHack 2025 winning team presented their projects at a final event at the GATE Institute.

Three of them made it to the podium with the highest scores awarded by the jury using a methodology that allocates points among the reports (80%) and presentations during the event (20%).



The winner of DisInfoHack 2026 (1st place) is the Sixth Sense team (on the image above) from the American University in Blagoevgrad, mentored by Bozhidar Angelov (a doctoral student at the Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and a reporter for AFP Fact Check in Bulgaria). The winning team worked on the topic: “Artificial Weapons: Trends in the Use of Artificial Intelligence as a Tool for Creating Disinformation in Military Conflicts.” The project was recognized for the relevance of its topic, methodological consistency, and clear, actionable conclusions and recommendations aimed at enhancing information resilience.

Second and third place (on the podium) went to the teams Beyond the Narrative (Anastasia Peicheva, Borislava Popova, Gabriela Radkova, Ivelina Spasova, Yoan Ivanov, Monika Kabaiwanova, mentored by Ralitsa Stoycheva) and AntiFake Wave with participants Ivana Yankova, Diana Andreeva, Emma Beloreshka, Margaret Yusein, Olivia Klempka, and Todor Pirev, mentored by Adriana Dikancheva. They impressed the jury and the audience with their research on the topic “The Formation of Patriotism Through the Opposition to ‘External Enemies’ by Bulgarian Political Figures and the Presentation of ‘Us Against Them’” (Ukraine, the West, the EU, NATO, the US, Brussels) and “Patriotism as a Tool for Disinformation: Communication Strategies Against the Euro on TikTok.”

Forty-six students participated in DisInfoHack 2026, divided into seven teams: “AUBG – Blagoevgrad,” “Burgas, Nesebar, and Karnobat,” “Veliko Tarnovo University – Veliko Tarnovo,” “Mix – Bulgaria and Abroad,” “Plovdiv University,” “Security – N. Y. Vaptsarov Naval Academy (Varna) and Georgi Sava Rakovski Military Academy (Sofia),” and “Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski.” They were joined by the special team of winners from DisInfoHack 2025, who presented a report titled “Narrative Hunters” and built a bridge between the experience gained from previous editions and this year’s work.

The closing event placed a strong emphasis on the significance of the “slow” format: not a one-day sprint, but a process that allows for analysis, iteration, fact-checking, and the development of well-reasoned conclusions.

Prof. Silvia Ilieva, GATE Institute

Prof. Silvia Ilieva, director of the GATE Institute, which is a co-organizer of DisInfoHack and is the coordinator of BROD, highlighted the ecosystemic logic of CoDE and the role of DisInfoHack in transforming the “abstract threat” into solving real problems and building capacity: “DisInfoHack demonstrates how students move from the abstract threat of disinformation to solving real-world problems on topics important to our society, and how, in the process, they create a network of collaboration among various specialists and institutions.”

Foreign Minister Nadezhda Neynski highlighted the democratic cost of disinformation and the role of critical reflection:
“In a world where information moves at the speed of a click, the truth sometimes lags behind. Disinformation is not fought solely with technology, but with critical thinking, knowledge, and the courage to ask questions.”

Ministers Nadezhda Neynski and Irena Mladenova, and prof. Silvia Ilieva 

The Minister of Innovation and Growth, Ms. Irena Mladenova, emphasized the sustainable impact of this model and the “multiplier effect” of what is learned within the community: “This format is important precisely because it is not a one-day or 24-hour hackathon, but a process that builds on critical thinking and responsibility for what we create and what we share. I hope that what you have learned will not remain within this circle, but will be multiplied through you to your colleagues and friends.”

The Minister of E-Government, Mr. Georgi Sharkov, framed the topic within the context of hybrid threats and the need for operational mechanisms for situational awareness and early warning: “The challenge is to turn campaign analysis into real-time work—situational awareness and early warning—which requires coordination among all stakeholders.”

Prof. Nelly Ognyanova, the head of the jury

DisInfoHack 2026 is being implemented within the CoDE project ecosystem with the participation of partners from the academic, scientific, public, civil society, and technology sectors. Among the organizations that are part of the partnership framework and collaboration around the initiative are: the Faculty of Economics and the Faculty of Philosophy (Department of European Studies) at Sofia University, the GATE Institute, IICT–BAS, the European Software Institute – Eastern Europe Center, as well as technology partners from the business sector—Webcentric, Kontipso, and Identrics.

Researchers from the GATE Institute, Ruslana Margova and Iglika Ivanova, served as mentors to two of the teams: The Seven Samurai, who presented a study on the topic “Landing Amid Speculation: How Disinformation Turned Bulgaria into a Participant in the War in Iran” (4th in place), and FactFlash, formed by students from the Faculty of Law at Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski,” (fifth in the final ranglist).

Both Dr. Margova and Ms. Ivanova are part of the “Information Environment Analysis” unit, whose research is focused on the information crisis and the related cognitive crisis expressed in vulnerability to both misleading and manipulative content and to the deep-rooted prejudices and biases of audiences.

The team develops tools that integrate artificial intelligence and assist in categorizing contemporary phenomena in public and political discourse, providing a foundation for approaches that promote and support the building of resilience against information manipulation in the digital age. In their work, researchers encounter manipulative and synthetic content on a daily basis, analyze risks and threats, develop methodologies, and contribute to the integration of media literacy into the products and resources they develop.

Participants in DisInfoHack 2025 took the floor as hosts of the event

The final event was live-streamed on Facebook thank to the sponsorship with TDB Play's Studio Asterisc and can be re-watched here.

All the detailes about DisinfoHack 2025, DisInfoHack Junior and DisInfoHack 2026 can be found on disinfohack.bg