Petra Olschowski, Minister of Science, Research and Arts of Baden-Württemberg, Informs Herself About Pioneering Research on Polarization and Disinformation at the FZI

On Tuesday, September 3, 2024, the Minister of Science, Research and Arts, Petra Olschowski, informed herself about current research findings and ongoing projects on polarization and disinformation during a visit to the FZI in Karlsruhe. The FZI Board of Executive Directors, consisting of Jan Wiesenberger, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Marius Zöllner, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Nickel, welcomed the Minister and presented the diverse activities of the independent non-profit institution. The FZI researches and develops innovations for the benefit of society and pursues the transfer mission of bringing innovative, cutting-edge research into application. With its research focus on Digital Democracy and Participation, the FZI underlines the importance of research into the opportunities, challenges, and design of digital participation formats, as well as researching and combating disinformation and social polarization. The research focus includes the House of Participation (HoP) initiative, a competence center on digital citizen participation, disinformation, and digital democracies at the FZI. Minister Petra Olschowski was impressed by the diversity of the various research projects: “It is essential, both politically and socially, that we better understand the mechanisms of polarization and disinformation. To do this, we need strictly scientific approaches such as those developed and researched at the FZI.  The scientists here make an important and targeted contribution to counteracting attacks on our liberal democracy and the partial weakening of its institutions.” The visit of Petra Olschowski highlights the vital role of cooperation between politics and science in researching polarization and disinformation in society. With the House of Participation, the FZI provides a center of excellence dealing intensively with the challenges of polarization and disinformation. The Minister took the opportunity to exchange ideas with the scientists, who also provided practical insights into the FZI’s current research work. Apart from the House of Participation as the FZI’s competence center for digital democracy, Large Language Media Manipulator (LLMM) demonstrators and the FZI research projects SOSEC, VIRTUS, and DeFaktS were presented.