The project
“The New Challenges to Democracy in the Digital Ecosystem,” funded under the University of Macerata’s Call for Proposals for the funding of “Collaborative Research Constellations” (CCRs), is complementary to RightNets in addressing challenges arising from the role of the internet in political communication, particularly with regard to extra-EU interference that can manipulate public discourse
Defense of democracy
The project explores new EU measures for defending democracy and election integrity.
Identify interference
The project uses AI-analyzed anonymized data to address third-country election interference.
Collaborative project
Eight universities collaborate to propose EU-wide solutions for online political threats.
On the occasion of the 2024 European elections, the Commission adopted a “package for the defense of democracy” to promote free and fair elections, encourage citizen participation, and counter third-country interference. Similar priorities are pursued by the EU regulation on transparency in political advertising, approved in February 2024. The changes reflect the changing international framework and the role of the internet in political communication, highlighting vulnerabilities of democracies to non-EU interference that can manipulate public discourse. The research will address these challenges with an innovative method: anonymized data from online political debate will be selected by data scientists with Artificial Intelligence, based on questions formulated by social scientists. The results will be collectively analyzed to propose reflections and replicable solutions at the European level. Scholars from eight international universities will participate, creating a network of researchers already individually active on the topic.
Events
Here you will find the events related to the collaborative research constellation.
Results and publications
Here you will find deliverables, milestones, reports and publications describing the project results.
Useful materials
Here you will find useful materials collected during the project implementation.