The fight against online disinformation is getting a boost with a $3.8 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub at the Watt Family Innovation Center.

The Media Forensics Hub is an interdisciplinary team of researchers working to study disinformation online and develop tools and educate people to recognize and stop it from spreading.

The team began as a partnership in 2017 between Darren Linvill, associate professor of communication, and Patrick Warren, associate professor of economics, who worked together previously. 

According to Clemson News, “Researchers with the Hub study disinformation and inauthenticity online and create tools to educate people and stop the spread of disinformation. Clemson University is matching the grant, making the total investment in the Hub $7.6 million over the next four years.”

This funding will allow the Hub to hire four more faculty in different disciplines — psychology, communication, marketing and computer science — to bring their unique perspectives and expertise to the issue. The grant will also fund technology infrastructure for the Hub, graduate assistants and postdoctoral researchers, as stated by Clemson News.

“I am very proud of the work that the Media Forensics Hub is doing to fight disinformation and online deception, and I am grateful to the Knight Foundation for their incredible support,” said Clemson University President Jim Clements.

 “The mission of the Hub is to help inform and protect the public from disinformation, and this fits perfectly with Clemson’s land grant mission to serve the people of South Carolina and the nation. I am excited to see the Hub grow and make an even bigger impact in this in the future,” Clements stated.

The Hub is also part of a collaboration with several other universities to help fight online scams that target older adults. According to Clemson News, their project recently received $5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation.