Fake news and disinformation are an ever-growing problem, and social media in particular are heavily affected by the phenomenon. Fake news and conspiracy theories make it difficult to form opinions and can damage the cohesion of our society and trigger social unrest.

Security authorities, such as the police or the fire brigade, enjoy great trust from society, but often do not know how to counteract this disinformation in a targeted manner. This is where the project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) comes in. The results of the project should help security authorities to take targeted action against disinformation campaigns.

In the joint research project "Prevent", scientists are investigating why this phenomenon occurs, which people (groups) are behind it and how this disinformation can be recognized and differentiated. The aim is to develop individual, coordinated and automated preventive measures, which are then to be evaluated by the team with regard to acceptance by the security authorities and ethical and legal criteria. In addition to the University of Paderborn, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Cologne, the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and Virtimo AG are also involved in the project.

Project duration: 01.01.2021 – 30.06.2025
Contact: Jonas Rieskamp