TLDR;

Our political information environment is rapidly evolving: the rise of disinformation and hate speech poses significant challenges to our democracies. WHAT-IF develops a digital twin of the digital political information environment to test the effects of interventions for policy making.

Why?

The rise of mis- and disinformation, hate speech and polarization present significant challenges to our society. Studying interventions requires access to proprietary data and cooperation from platforms, but societies cannot serve as experimental playgrounds. This makes simulations an essential tool for exploring solutions ethically and effectively.

Objectives

Using methodologies such as Agent-Based Modeling and Large Language Models, the project tests the impact of policy and regulatory interventions on democratic citizenship. By collaborating with policymakers, citizens, and stakeholders, WHAT-IF delivers evidence-based insights to improve media regulation, enhance democratic discourse, and advance Computational Social Science methods.