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

本项目解决影响当代通信系统信任的两个重大问题之间的联系：(1)错误信息的广泛和迅速传播；(2)针对专家社区成员的辱骂和骚扰运动。错误信息驱动的骚扰运动对那些努力准确告知公众的人产生了特别大的影响，包括记者、科学家和公共卫生官员。因此，这些骚扰活动破坏了人们对关键知识来源的信心，减少了专家对信息生态系统的参与，并使钓鱼和辱骂等行为正常化。该项目旨在开发“专家之声”（EVT）平台，为遭受网络骚扰的专家提供实时支持，并特别强调让旁观者能够采取行动提供帮助。由科学家、技术专家、民间社会和社区代表组成的团队将汇集他们在广泛领域的专业知识——包括心理学、以人为本的设计、新闻学、传播研究和系统工程——创建一个技术系统和一系列以创伤知情、快速反应危机干预最佳实践为模型的协议。EVT还将提供工具，收集有关错误信息驱动的骚扰的来源和策略的高质量数据。最后，该项目将开发新的教育项目和材料，旨在帮助改变网络社区的广泛规范、期望和做法，包括将旁观者的行为转变为虐待和骚扰。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.