Pitt Cyber announced today that its Pitt Disinformation Lab is receiving a $115,000 grant from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation for its project, Building Community Resilience Against Disinformation in Western Pennsylvania.
The effort seeks to develop and create a replicable model of how to build resilience in individual communities, while driving a better understanding of how civil society can thrive in the face of social-media fueled disinformation and increasing distrust in institutions.
“The work PDL will be doing in partnership with communities is essential to building our region’s resilience to disinformation,” said Pitt Cyber Founding Director David Hickton. “This work, in combination with our multi-layered data, provides a new way forward in combatting disinformation.”
More information about the Pitt Disinformation Lab can be found at: https://www.cyber.pitt.edu/disinformation and community organizations interested in exploring working with PDL should email cyber@pitt.edu.
The PIs are:
Michael Colaresi, Director, Pitt Disinformation Lab, Co-Lead, Civic Resilience Initiative William S. Dietrich II Professor, Political Science, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences; Pitt Cyber Research and Academic Director; Affiliate Scholar, Intelligent Systems Program
Lara Putnam, Co-Lead, Civic Resilience Initiative, UCIS Research Professor, History, Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences
Beth Schwanke, Executive Director, Pitt Cyber