“A new, reliable tool for the large-scale detection of disinformation makes it possible to identify threats at an early stage, respond more quickly and thereby strengthen our society’s resilience to disinformation in the long term.”
SOURCE Consortium
The SOURCE project brings together five complementary partners from academia, infrastructure, and civil society. Together, they are developing a scalable, open infrastructure to detect and combat disinformation campaigns on the web – ranging from algorithmic analysis and high-performance data centers to the practical integration of fact-checking communities.
Four of the partners have already collaborated on the EU project OpenWebSearch.eu, where they jointly developed the Open Web Index (OWI) –upon which SOURCE is directly built.
The combination of academic excellence, technological infrastructure, and social engagement makes the consortium unique.
The Chair of Data Science at the University of Passau conducts research on methods for indexing and provision of web-based media. The focus is on the use of machine learning techniques and intelligent human-machine interfaces.
Led by Prof. Dr. Michael Granitzer, the team serves as the coordinator of the collaborative project. The thematic focus at Uni Passau is on source-based disinformation detection – in particular, the identification and tracking of media content on the web, as well as the analysis of involved actors and networks. Website >
The Deep Semantic Learning Research Group at the University of Kassel conducts basic and applied research with the goal of developing future information systems. Situated at the intersection of Natural Language Processing and Information Retrieval, the group focuses on societal challenges related to the quality and trustworthiness of information.
Led by Prof. Dr. Martin Potthast, the Deep Semantic Learning division is working on content-based disinformation detection. This includes the detection of AI-generated texts, stylometric analyses to determine authorship, and the evaluation of the developed methods. Website >
The Open Search Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting independent, transparent, and democratic access to information on the web. In collaboration with research institutions, data centres, and other partners, the foundation promotes open web search as a public good through the Open Web Search Initiative.
Within the SOURCE project, the Open Search Foundation focuses on building, engaging, and connecting relevant communities around the disinformation detection tools being developed, as well as on corresponding science communication activities aimed at stakeholders and the general public.
To this end, both the existing OpenWebSearch.eu community and technical and editorial expert communities are being involved at an early stage. Website >
Alliance4Europe is a civil society organization specializing in the detection and countering of disinformation and foreign influence in Europe. Under the leadership of Benjamin Zeeb, A4E coordinates the Counter Disinformation Network (CDN)—a transnational network of over 130 analysts from several European countries focused on the integrity of democratic processes.
In the SOURCE project, A4E is responsible for use-case development and expert studies: The data, indicators, and tools developed are embedded in practical, operational threat intelligence and disruption processes. A4E contributes the FRIKI ecosystem (Foreign Interference WIKI) – a structured threat intelligence database for foreign influence operations – and ensures the integration of SOURCE results into the established DISARM framework. Website >
The Leibniz Computing Centre of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences is one of Europe’s leading high-performance computing centers and is responsible for the infrastructure in the SOURCE project.
Under the direction of Dr. Megi Sharikadze, the LRZ provides the necessary computing, cloud, and storage capacities for operating the SOURCE database. At the heart of this is a federated digital infrastructure that enables scalable expansion to additional data centres – including via the LEXIS platform, which the LRZ has helped develop. In addition, LRZ advises project partners on technical, organizational, ethical, and legal requirements and represents the project at European IT conferences and events. Website>
