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Renowned censorship researcher and data science expert Prof. Margaret Roberts will join Prof. Nils B. Weidmann from the University of Konstanz and Yannis Theocharis from Munich Technical University  to analyze the intransparent moderation procedures of social media platforms. The main focus is on how to deal with misinformation and hate messages and, at the same time, how to protect freedom of expression. Funded by the Max Planck Humboldt Research Award 2022, the political scientist, who teaches at the University of California, San Diego, will tackle this topic of extraordinary importance for democracies together with her colleagues in Germany. The prize is associated with funding of around 1.5 million euros.

Political scientist Nils Weidmann is cooperation partner at Konstanz
Margaret Roberts is forming a joint research group with Nils Weidmann, Professor of Political Science at the University of Konstanz, and Yannis Theocharis, Professor of Digital Governance at the Technical University of Munich. The project is initially scheduled to run for five years. The award ceremony is on November 3, 2022 in Berlin.

The award winner said, "Content moderation is ubiquitous on social media platforms. They dictate what content is and is not allowed on their platforms. However, the way content is moderated is often quite opaque and users are often confused about what content is being removed and why."

In her previous high-profile research, the political scientist has uncovered how the Chinese state uses information technologies to censor. Together with her German research partners, she now wants to apply her innovative analytical tools to social media corporations and analyze their behavior. The goal is to educate the public about the mechanisms of content controls and thus make possible developments harmful to society visible.

Project participants
Margaret Roberts studied international relations and economics at Stanford University, where she also completed a master's degree in statistics. In 2014, she received her PhD in government from Harvard University under Gary King, a world-leading specialist in quantitative methods. She is currently a professor in the Department of Political Science and the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at the University of California, San Diego. She is also co-director of the China Data Lab there at the 21st Century China Center.

Nils B. Weidmann is Professor of Political Science at the Department of Politics and Public Administration and Principal Investigator and Co-Speaker at the Cluster of Excellence "The Politics of Inequality" at the University of Konstanz. His research interests include the complex of inequality, mobilization, and conflict, as well as the political dimension of information and communication technology.

Yannis Theocharis is Professor of Digital Governance at the Technical University of Munich. His research area covers political behavior with a focus on the impact of digital media on political participation, communication, governance, and uncivil behavior in the online world.

About the Max Planck Humboldt Research Award
 The research award is granted by the Max Planck Society and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and is endowed with 1.5 million euros. The target group is researchers working abroad who stand out for their outstanding future potential. The award money is used to enable innovative and high-risk research and to develop new research formats. The prize is awarded annually, alternating between the fields of natural sciences and engineering, life sciences and humanities and social sciences.

Facts

• Max Planck Humboldt Research Award 2022
• Project analyzes the behavior of social media platforms, in particular how to deal with false information and hate messages and how to protect freedom of expression
• Collaborative project of the professor in the Department of Political Science and at the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at the University of California with the University of Konstanz and the Technical University of Munich
• The prize is associated with funding of approximately 1.5 million euros
• The award ceremony will take place in Berlin on November 3, 2022.