Social Science Research Council

The Hewlett Foundation recently launched a fund to research how digital disinformation is affecting political polarization and undermining U.S. democracy, and what can be done about it. One challenge has been securing data access from online platforms. In April, an agreement was reached with Facebook to make data available to scholars, in privacy-protected ways, to better understand how Facebook is impacting elections, and democracy, globally. The agreement brings together seven funders from across the ideological spectrum. The Social Science Research Council will play a key role. The council is one of the most respected institutions working globally to foster research on important public issues and will be engaged at every stage of this work: announcing requests for proposals, selecting and awarding funds to scholars, and translating learnings to the public.