NSF Convergence Accelerator Track F: Building Trust in Communication Systems by Addressing Misinformation-Driven Online Abuse and Harassment

This project addresses the links between two significant problems impacting trust in contemporary communication systems: (1) the broad and rapid spread of misinformation and (2) campaigns of abuse and harassment directed at members of expert communities. Misinformation-driven harassment campaigns have particularly large impacts on those at the forefront of efforts to accurately inform the public, including journalists, scientists, and public health officials.

As a result, these harassment campaigns undermine confidence in pivotal sources of knowledge, reduce expert participation in the information ecosystem, and normalize behaviors such as trolling and abuse. The project aims to develop Expert Voices Together (EVT), a platform that provides real-time support to experts experiencing online harassment, with particular emphasis on empowering bystanders to act in their aid.

The team of scientists, technical specialists, civil society, and community representatives will bring together their expertise in a wide range of fields—including psychology, human-centered design, journalism, communication research, and systems engineering—to create a technical system and series of protocols modeled on best practices in trauma-informed, rapid-response crisis interventions. EVT will also provide tools for gathering high-quality data on the sources and tactics of misinformation-driven harassment.

Finally, the project will develop new educational programs and materials designed to help shift the broad norms, expectations, and practices of online communities, including changing the actions of bystanders to abuse and harassment.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.