In June, Facebook launched a request for proposals focused on content policies, specifically around bullying and harassment, and fairness in global enforcement. Our chief goal is to support research in these areas that will help develop and assess better content policies and interventions.

We know online bullying and harassment can affect our community in many ways. While Facebook has a number of tools and programs that people can use to better control unwanted, offensive, or hurtful experiences, we want to support the research community in finding ways to build on these tools and make our platforms as safe as possible.

Additionally, operating at scale presents unique challenges for Facebook. Our platform hosts content posted by billions of people every day across hundreds of languages and cultures. Research on how to fairly enforce one set of policies across geographical, cultural, and linguistic boundaries will help us do a better job of identifying and taking action on harmful content in various contexts.

Proposals were evaluated through a competitive process by a selection committee comprising members of the integrity research and policy teams. We were impressed by the diversity of perspectives and approaches represented by these proposals and anticipate that the work the awardees undertake will help shape a better online community for all.

Thank you to all the researchers who took the time to submit a proposal, and congratulations to the winners.

Research award winners

The names listed below are the principal investigators of each proposal.

Co-evolution of Facebook’s Content Policies & International Instruments
Konstantinos Stylianou (University of Leeds)

Co-designing with Children: A Rights-Based Approach to Fighting Bullying
Tijana Milosevic (Dublin City University)

Communal and Misogynistic Aggression in Hindi-English-Bangla
Ritesh Kumar (Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra)

Countering Harmful Speech Online
Niloufar Salehi (University of California, Berkeley)

Exploring the Internationalization of Extreme Right Public Spheres
Dror Walter (Georgia State University)

Hate Speech Is in the Eye of the Beholder: Exploring Bias on Hate Perception
Antonela Tommasel (Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires)

How Filipino Youth Identify and Act on Social Media Bullying and Harassment
Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano (De La Salle University, Inc.)

Identifying Logical Fallacies Using Machine Learning
Jonas Nordhaug Myhre (UiT The Arctic University of Norway)

Mapping and Countering the Diffusion of Hate Speech Across Social Media
Amelia Johns (University of Technology Sydney)

Research & Event Proposal on Tackling Cyberbullying
Dedy Permadi (University Gadjah Mada/Center for Digital Society)

Tracking Dangerous Speech During the Myanmar Election and Beyond
Michael Best (Georgia Institute of Technology)

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To view our currently open research awards and to subscribe to our email list, visit our Research Awards page.