Improving the Quality of Online Public Discourse
Project duration:
2024-2028
Project Consortium:
University of Zurich (CH)
ETH Zurich (CH)
University College London (UK)
Website:
coming soon
Project Description:
Online platforms have changed the political debate by giving more people a voice, but also by spreading harmful content such as hate speech. This content has a negative impact on society and politics. The aim of this project is to improve the quality of online discussion by examining both harmful and constructive content. We define harmful content as disrespectful and offensive posts that contain personal attacks or discriminatory language. Constructive content, on the other hand, encourages positive discussion and democratic participation.
This project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and has two main objectives: to develop methods to identify harmful and constructive content and to evaluate the effectiveness of measures to reduce harmful content and promote constructive dialog. Our research covers three areas of work: the development and measurement of detection methods, the evaluation of measures against harmful content and the investigation of measures to promote constructive content.
We work with Swiss news portals such as Blick and 20 Minuten and analyze data from platforms such as Twitter and Reddit. The project addresses challenges related to reliable content detection and access to data and has taken appropriate risk mitigation measures. Overall, our project will provide valuable insights and new methods to improve online discussion and reduce harmful content with the overarching aim to help researchers, civil society groups and policy makers.