For a Strong Democracy: FZI is Part of #ZUSAMMENLAND
Research focus: Digital Democracy and Participation
Transparency, openness and respect are values that we live by at the FZI and have anchored in our guiding principles. Accordingly, as part of our research focus Digital Democracy and Participation, we are working with the DeFaktS project to identify fake news and ensure more clarity and transparency on social media. As a project partner of the #ZUSAMMENLAND initiative, we are also raising awareness of the danger of disinformation for our democracy.
Disinformation campaigns, the targeted and large-scale propagation of misleading information, seriously threaten the political process and social coherence – especially in times of an election campaign. Manipulative content distorts debates, fuels fears, and undermines trust in democracy, especially on social media, where it spreads rapidly and often in a professionally orchestrated manner.
Especially in times of increasing uncertainty and social division, it is more important than ever to promote a fact-based exchange. In our DeFaktS project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), we are developing an Artificial Intelligence (AI) that can recognize disinformation and make it transparent to users – in a comprehensible, explainable way and without censorship. With our research, we want to help identify fake news faster and strengthen media literacy in society.
For us, disinformation is not just a research topic – it also threatens an open society and our democracy. That is why we are joining #ZUSAMMENLAND – an initiative launched by DIE ZEIT, Handelsblatt, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Tagesspiegel, WirtschaftsWoche, and Ströer. The initiative is already supported by around 800 companies, foundations, and associations. #ZUSAMMENLAND stands for respect, open-mindedness, and diversity – values we share.
With our research and participation in #ZUSAMMENLAND, we stand for a culture of debate based on facts and respect – because both are indispensable for a strong democracy.
