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New AI Tool from Coburg University Detects Propaganda and Manipulation in Texts
fake news concept black red, © Colourbox
Researchers from the Coburg University of Applied Sciences have developed an AI-based text scanner capable of detecting manipulation and propaganda within texts. This software analyzes documents for various distortions or biases, indicating the strength of the influence. The scanner will soon be available for download across different browsers and devices, with a demo version available for testing here.
The enemies of democracy are well-equipped, as evidenced by the recent scandal involving the electronic consulting firm Cambridge Analytica. Opponents of democracy seek to divide us, and research like this may offer a solution. We need a technological countermeasure to combat geopolitical propaganda.
— Jochen Leidner, Professor of Artificial Intelligence at Coburg University
Such a tool is all the more crucial now, as the industry-leading transparency tool that has been used by academics, watchdog organizations, and journalists to monitor political misinformation, manipulation, and hate speech is being discontinued.
Meta has announced that it will discontinue its industry-leading transparency tool, CrowdTangle, in August 2024—right in the middle of an election year. For years, CrowdTangle has been one of the best analytical tools for tracking trends on Facebook and Instagram and reporting popular misinformation circulating on the platform. Researchers around the world used it to track misleading claims about vaccines, understand the news strategies of Russian state media, and assess the effectiveness of Facebook’s moderation efforts.
The decision to take CrowdTangle offline without an equivalent replacement comes at the worst possible time: this year, elections will impact about half of the global population. Reports suggest that Facebook intended to suspend CrowdTangle as early as February, but the process was delayed as negotiations on the Digital Services Act (DSA) gained momentum. The DSA, which has now been passed by the EU Parliament, mandates extensive regulation of data access. Facebook and other major social media platforms will be bound by these regulations in the future.
Among other things, the DSA requires platforms to provide researchers with access to a CrowdTangle-like interface for searching and analyzing publicly available data. This obligation has been reiterated in the EU Code of Practice on Disinformation, which Facebook and other social media companies signed in June. Therefore, platforms will soon be legally required to provide a research tool that functions similarly to CrowdTangle.
One reason for closing CrowdTangle could be that journalists are being excluded from access to Facebook’s data, and the much-praised Digital Services Act might have been a stepping stone for this strategy. The regulation stipulates data access only for approved researchers and civil society organizations. The days of the most important journalistic tool for platform research might be numbered, potentially undermining the EU's ambitious goal of making the internet a safer and more transparent place.
The Mozilla Foundation has launched a still active petition advocating for the continuation of CrowdTangle.