Logically launches global Research Partner Program to invent new, innovative ways to combat mis- and disinformation

17th July, 2023

• Logically’s Research Partner Program sees leading institutions develop new AI-powered research to fight mis-and disinformation.

• Following success with an initial group of partners in the UK and India, Logically is expanding the program to other regions this year.

• Partners will gain access to Logically’s leading team of data scientists, engineers, analysts, and other expert stakeholders.

As harmful misinformation and deliberate disinformation proliferate online, the risk to information integrity, digital safety, and trust in democracy continues to grow. It is against this backdrop that Logically, experts in analyzing misinformation, disinformation and harmful online content using artificial and expert intelligence, has today launched its Research Partner Program.

The program will see a network of leading academics and institutions brought together to find new and innovative ways to proactively limit the harms associated with mis- and disinformation. This includes conducting new, high-impact research to effectively combat multimodal and multilingual mis- and disinformation, as well as developing practices and tools that can mitigate online harms and digital threats.

The program will also seek to improve information attribution and segmentation methods to accurately detect misinformation narratives, and campaigns. All program participants will be able to collaborate closely with Logically’s technology and product staff, as well as subject matter experts who lead Logically’s investigative and research efforts on disinformation monitoring and fact checking.

Existing partners in Logically’s growing program include Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD) and the University of Sheffield;

• Indian Institute of Technology Delhi - The partnership focuses on the detection of hate speech and understanding its correlations with misinformation spread in networks and communities, as well as developing advanced AI models to counter hate speech and online misinformation. Resulting innovations included the development of a cross-platform hate speech detection model, a hate intensity quantification model, an echo chamber detection pipeline, and a counter-speech generation pipeline.

• University of Sheffield - Co-funded by Logically and Innovate UK, the partnership aims to use advanced computer vision research to address multimedia-based misinformation and problematic multimedia content. Initial results include the research and development of advanced computer vision algorithms relating to multimedia clustering and multimedia manipulation detection and localisation. Other academic institutions are also embedded in the program, with Logically and the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC), a research center located at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, working to develop a first-of-its-kind, cross-platform social media database with a focus on accelerationism. This will provide the global research community with an invaluable resource to better understand and respond to any emerging and dominant extremist ideologies.

Commenting on the launch of the Research Partner Program, Dr. Anil Bandhakavi, Head of Data Science at Logically, said: “Logically was one of the first companies to truly innovate and bring new technologies into our industry, but it’s vital that we continue to look at ways to expand our knowledge and find new countermeasures. Closing the gap between the industry and academia is a vital pillar to how this can be achieved, which is why we are delighted to formally launch and grow this initiative. Concern is clearly beginning to rise globally about the impact and influence of mis- and disinformation, and the collective, interdisciplinary collaboration our program helps foster will be a vital contribution to developing new solutions.”

Founded in 2017, Logically combines artificial intelligence with expert analysts to tackle harmful and manipulative content at speed and scale. In 2021, the company launched its threat intelligence platform - Logically Intelligence®, which allows users to detect, assess, and act on emerging online threats, and is currently used by public sector bodies in three major democracies. In 2023, the company announced its new independent fact-checking unit - Logically Facts - to help deliver accurate fact-checks at scale and provide people with more reliable and accurate information.

For more information about the Logically Research Program, please visit: https://www.logically.ai/research-partnerships