ABOUT US
If we were to apply the investigative method of Sherlock Holmes in detecting and debunking disinformation and propaganda campaigns, we would approach the issue with an open mind, without preconceived ideas. We will develop research questions, then try to find data through our observations. And the data will eventually be used in theory building to create new knowledge in a cyclical process.
This is the method of induction, as it starts from specific facts and reaches general conclusions, and it is the best solution in investigating phenomena of misinformation, malicious influence, or propaganda in the informational space.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
<Digital Forensic Team> is a project of the New Data Academy Association, born both from the need to involve young researchers from Romania and Eastern European countries in analyzing phenomena of misinformation, foreign malign influence, or propaganda, as well as from their passion for research and data analysis in the digital environment (digital forensic).
<Digital Forensic Team> is an international hub for the promotion and collaboration of researchers specialized or passionate about IT, database analysis and management, combating misinformation and propaganda, international relations, security studies, journalism, political science, European studies, sociology, history, and more.
The results obtained by the research team within the projects <Digital Forensic Team> will be put into practice at the level of society in order to strengthen the resilience of the populations in Romania and Eastern Europe.
CONTACT
+40 754 900 234
Phone
contact@digiforteam.ro
OUR MISSION
Never in history have we been able to communicate instantly with so many people, so easily and quickly. The Internet has transformed the entire circuit of message transmission.
In a relatively short time, we have gone from the supremacy of the "broadcast model" of television, radio and the press to the "network model", where each person is a node, able to receive and create messages and information for other users. The lack of mediation gives users unprecedented opportunities to access and share information simultaneously. Identifying and unmasking these networks takes immense time and resources.
For example, in the Eastern European region Russia's malign influence in the digital sphere often takes the form of online campaigns by specialized networks that aim to create an "alternative reality" by perverting the objective truth in order to alter the strategic decision of the targeted states, to spread confusion and mistrust of Western values among the population.
Our mission is to create a regional hub in Eastern Europe made up of researchers from various fields to collaborate in order to create consolidated methodologies and tools for data analysis, fact-checking and warning of future disinformation campaigns :
We propose:
- to analyze in depth the phenomena of disinformation, malignant influence, psychological operations, propaganda, strategic narratives, digital radicalism, hate speech and other related manifestations;
- to analyze and process open character data (OSINT) from the digital environment (digital forensics);
- to popularize the concepts of media and digital literacy (digital & media literacy);
- deploy new artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the automated identification and debunking of fake news, propaganda, deep fake online products and hate speech;
- to create tools and methodologies to measure the resilience of populations and the magnitude of the disinformation/foreign malign influence phenomenona;
- to analyze and evaluate domestic and international events, domestic and international media, in the context of disinformation/propaganda/malign influence campaigns conducted in the Eastern Europe region;
- to create methodologies to detect and warn of future disinformation/malicious influences/propaganda (prebunking) campaigns;
- to strengthen the resilience of the populations of Eastern European states where the dimensions of the disinformation/malign influences/propaganda (prebunking) phenomena started at local and regional level.