$5M Knight Foundation Investment Creates Center To Fight Online Disinformation
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Bots, trolls, state-run propaganda, information warfare and hate speech are some of the most pervasive ways that societal discourse is being warped in the modern era. Carnegie Mellon University today announced the creation of a new research center dedicated to the study of online disinformation and its effects on democracy, funded by a $5 million investment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The new center will bring together researchers from within the institution and across the country.
The Center for Informed Democracy and Social Cybersecurity (IDeaS) will study how disinformation is spread through online channels, such as social media, and address how to counter its effects to preserve and build an informed citizenry. Directed by Kathleen M. Carley, professor in the School of Computer Science's Institute for Software Research, the center will take a multidisciplinary approach, engaging researchers from across the university to examine and develop responses to both technological and human facets of the issue. Douglas Sicker, head of Engineering and Public Policy in the College of Engineering, and David Danks, head of Philosophy in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will be co-directors.
Pictured above: Kathleen Carley