In February, Facebook launched a request for proposals focused on content policies, specifically around hate speech and preventing offline harm. We were interested in supporting research that will help us develop better content policies and assess possible interventions. We asked for proposals that took a variety of approaches, including experimental and observational studies, along with qualitative and analytic research to understand the mechanisms by which online rhetoric influences offline events.

We received 184 proposals from 38 countries; a selection committee comprising members of the integrity research and policy teams evaluated them. We received proposals on a broad range of relevant research questions that are well-positioned to contribute to the global discussion on content policy issues. Thank you to all the researchers who took the time to submit a proposal, and congratulations to the winners.

Research award winners

Note: Principle investigator is the first name listed under each proposal.

Comparative Thematic Analysis Online Comms Strategy of Global Terrorist Organizations
Stevie Weinberg, Deborah Housen-Couriel, Rami Efrati, Eitan Azani, Michael Barak, Uri Ben Yaakov, Doron Rokah, Erez Kreiner, Sigalit Maor-Hirsh, Gabriel Weimann, Assaf Moghadam, Boaz Ganor, Yaakov Perry (International Institute for Counter-Terrorism)

Defending Online and Offline Civility: Analyzing and Debunking Hate Speech
Michael Hameleers, Toni van der Meer (University of Amsterdam)

Examining the Techniques and Tools Used by Intimate Partner Abusers Online
Nicola Dell (Cornell University), Savita Bailur

Fair or Flawed: Experiments on Perceptions of Hate Speech Moderation
João Fernando Ferreira Gonçalves (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Gina Masullo Chen (The University of Texas at Austin), Marisa Torres da Silva (Nova University Lisbon)

Facebook content policy and hate in Zimbabwe
Patience Zirima, Prisiel Samu (Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe)

Hate Speech Detection via Deep Learning from Very Large Datasets
Amir Adler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

Identifying and Analyzing Hate in News Comments in Facebook
Fabrício Benevenuto (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais)

Identifying and Examining Islamophobic Speech and Imagery
Anisah Beth Bagasra, Burton Speakman (Kennesaw State University)

Identifying Pull and Push Factors Impacting Reaction to Facebook Posts
Muhammad Umer Khan (Centre for Peace, Security and Developmental Studies and The Grief Directory), Fatima Ali Haider, Narmeen Hamid (The Grief Directory), Fizza Batool (Centre for Peace, Security and Developmental Studies)

Monitoring Cross-Platform Trends in Hate Speech
Jeremy Blackburn (University of Alabama at Birmingham), Barry Bradlyn (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Networked Crowdsourcing: An Online Experiment in Content Moderation
Damon Centola, Douglas Guilbeault (University of Pennsylvania)

Pixels Hurt More Than Sticks and Stones: Confronting Cyber-Bullying on Facebook
Tom Kwanya, Angela Kogos, Claudior Onsare, Erick Ogolla, Lucy Kibe (The Technical University of Kenya)

Racial Bias in Reports and Evaluations of Potentially Harmful Speech
Nathan N. Cheek (The Trustees of Princeton University)

Regulating Hate Speech in the Asia Pacific
Katharine Gelber, Kirril Shields (University of Queensland), Aim Sinpeng, Fiona Martin (University of Sydney)

Social Media Platforms and Dirty Political Campaigns
Ernesto Schargrodsky (Universidad Torcuato Di Tella), Rafael Di Tella (Harvard Business School), Sebastian Galiani (University of Maryland)

Terrorist Content Classifier
Charlie Winter, Shiraz Maher (King’s College London)

The How and Where of Hate Speech: A 100 US City Mixed-Methods Study
Rumi Chunara, Stephanie Cook (New York University)

Tracking Causalities of Escalation Towards Dangerous Speech
Anulekha Nandi, Ritu Srivastava (Digital Empowerment Foundation)

Transparency on the Removal of Harmful Speech: Users, Platforms, and Law
Fabricio Bertini Pasquot Polido, Gustavo Ramos Rodrigues, Lahis Pasquali Kurtz, Lucas Costa dos Anjos, Luiza Couto Chaves Brandão, Paloma Rocillo Rolim do Carmo (Institute for Research on Internet & Society)

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