Fact or Fiction
Fact or Fiction
Fact or Fiction
What's at stake is the very health of democracy
In the malicious sea of online misinformation, disinformation, and harm, where are the lifeguards? Founded in 2019, GW’s Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics (IDDP) was established to develop a new science of combating online harms. By gathering experts across many disciplines to analyze the ever-complex digital media ecosystem, IDDP aims to distinguish fact from fiction and give the truth—and our democracy—a fighting chance.
IDDP’s Cross-disciplinary Collaboration
Examining problems as vast and complex as online disinformation and harm require multiple angles of approach. IDDP gathers the best minds in disciplines as seemingly disparate as computer science, engineering, government and law, media, public health and more to devise solutions as they inform journalists, advise policymakers and engage influential organizations around the world.
Our Researchers
Rebekah Tromble
Director, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics
David Broniatowski
Associate Director, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics
Lorien Abroms
Knight Fellow, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics
Dawn Nunziato
Knight Fellow, Institute for Data, Democracy & Politics
Inoculating Against Lies: IDDP and COVID-19
As more people than ever before reject traditional media outlets for health information on social media and other dubious sources — particularly amid the greatest global pandemic in a century — IDDP is not only analyzing how people are being influenced by health misinformation online, but also working to calm fears, help the vaccine hesitant, and ultimately inoculate people with the truth.