- Research on disinformation in Switzerland is still in its infancy; NRP 77 addresses relevant aspects in the “Ethics, trustworthiness and governance” module.
- NRP 77 research projects investigate social, legal and technological consequences, including projects on news consumption, recommendation systems and journalism.
- Additional studies and projects exist outside NRP 77 (TA-Swiss on deepfakes, CYD Campus, OFCOM-funded projects, universities, SNSF/Innosuisse funding opportunities).
Submitted text
According to the answer to question 23.7210, the Federal Council does not consider it advisable to launch an NRP in order to social, legal and technological consequences of disinformation as well as to investigate possible solutions to defend our democracy against this new threat. In his reply, he points out that the issue is being addressed in NRP 77.
I would ask the Federal Council to answer the following questions:
1. from which NRP 77 project will a study on the social consequences of disinformation emerge?
2. from which NRP 77 project will a study on the legal consequences of disinformation emerge?
3. from which NRP 77 project will a study on the technological consequences of disinformation emerge?
4. does NRP 77 include studies on solutions to detect and combat disinformation?
5. is the Federal Council aware of studies that provide approaches to solutions for detecting and combating disinformation?
6. is the Federal Council aware of any research teams working on finding solutions to detect and combat disinformation?
Statement of the Federal Council of 10.5.23
In its response to question 23.7210, the Federal Council pointed out the importance of the bottom-up principle when launching National Research Programs. It explained that in the 2022/2023 review round for national research programs, a topic proposal on digital democracy was rejected in the feasibility review, in which issues of digital trust, cybersecurity, data protection and disinformation were addressed. One reason for the negative decision was overlaps identified in the feasibility assessment with the already funded National Research Program 77 “Digital Transformation” (NRP 77).
1 / 2 / 3 and 4 (NRP 77)Research on disinformation and its social consequences for Switzerland is still in its infancy. With the National Research Programmes (NRP), the federal government supports research projects that develop knowledge for orientation and action and thus contribute to solving current challenges for society and the economy. All projects funded in NRP 77 therefore pursue the goal of identifying solutions to challenges posed by digitization. In the Research Module “Ethics, Trustworthiness and Governance” of NRP 77. social, legal and technological opportunities and challenges of digitization are addressed. The 16 projects in this module examine how digitization is changing trustworthiness and how digitization can be shaped. This research topic also concerns the digital dissemination of information. This is the core topic in the projects “Does digital information and news consumption endanger democracy?”, “The role of news recommendation systems in digital democracies” or “The importance of journalism for the digital information behavior of young adults”. Legal aspects on trust in the age of digitalization are also being investigated, for example in the project “Promoting trust in cybersecurity with ethics and law.”
5 and 6 (research outside NRP 77)
Currently, the federally funded Foundation for Technology Assessment TA-Swiss a study on “Deepfakes and manipulated realities”. conducted. In this interdisciplinary study, the effects of digital manipulation of sound, image and video material as well as deepfakes are assessed. Research on the dangers and detection of disinformation is also being conducted at the Cyber Defense (CYD) Campus of the Federal Government, currently for example in the project “Detection of Fakes in Social Media”. The aforementioned research projects aim to identify manipulated digital data and contribute to the fight against disinformation. The Federal Office of Communications supports several projects in the area of misinformation that address questions of governance, the role of algorithms and the digital literacy of users. Many Swiss universities funded by the federal government and cantons have also strengthened their research activities on digitization in recent years. In particular, research projects on disinformation are being carried out in the area of communication as part of the Digital Society Initiative at the University of Zurich. Furthermore, researchers at all Swiss university research centers have the opportunity to apply to the SNSF or Innosuisse for funding to carry out scientific projects in the aforementioned thematic area.