Misinformation campaigns under the spotlight for UK and US research collaboration

Cardiff University is part of a multi-million pound international project to research misinformation campaigns.

"Influence, Manipulation and Information Threats as Adversarial Techniques: Events, Evolution and Effects (IMITATE3)", is led by Professor Martin Innes of Cardiff University's Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute and Dr Jacob Shapiro of Princeton University.

Over the next three years, the UK research team will receive up to £2.87m from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The US research team will receive up to $3m of US Department of Defense (DoD) funding from the Minerva Research Initiative.

This is the first funded research project to come from the joint US-UK Bilateral Academic Research Initiative (BARI) Social Science Program. It focuses on high-risk basic research through international collaboration, supporting academic teams from both the US and UK to merge their unique skill sets and methodologies.

Professor Innes said: "The use of misinformation operations, where attempts are made by foreign states to use rumours, propaganda, conspiracies and manipulated information to disinform, distort and deceive, is an urgent global problem, the impact of which is still not fully understood."

Working closely with our US research partners will give us the opportunity to increase our understanding of the construction, communication and consequences of foreign influence operations, as well as their capacity to induce political, cultural, and socio-economic instability and uncertainty.

Stian Westlake, Executive Chair of the Economic and Social Research Council said: "Now, as much as at any time in history, we need to understand and counter the misinformation and manipulation spread by hostile states to destabilise the world's democracies. The BARI Social Science Program represents the joining of forces between two of the world's social science superpowers to the mutual benefit of both nations and to the benefit of people everywhere."

Dr David Montgomery, Director of social science in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)) said: "The BARI Social Science Program showcases the remarkable potential of international collaboration. By bringing together leading scientists from the US and UK, this initiative is set to achieve advancements in areas of shared interest, highlighting the strength of combining diverse perspectives and expertise."