ECLIPSE: a European project to counter hate and misinformation

On 22 and 23 September, the ECLIPSE Kick-off Meeting was held at the Fondazione Bruno Kessler, a project funded by Horizon Europe’s Cluster 3. The meeting brought together all the consortium partners and officially launched a path of research and innovation that brings together cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary skills.

The project’s goals

ECLIPSE’s mission is to counter hate speech and misinformation, online and offline, across Europe. To achieve this, advanced technologies are combined with contributions from the social, behavioral, criminological, and legal sciences. The goal is to develop effective tools and strategies that strengthen the resilience of professionals and citizens, helping them recognize and address these phenomena both in the digital space and in real life.

The project also stands out for its collaborative approach: along with universities and research centers, it includes law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations, and international bodies to ensure practical, shared solutions.  The consortium will develop innovative tools and strategies for the analysis of hate speech and disinformation and the dissemination of counter-narratives.

Innovative technologies and methods

To achieve its goals, ECLIPSE integrates several technological and training tools: natural language processing (NLP), social network analysis, and natural language generation (NLG) to monitor and understand hate speech and disinformation.
It then employs innovative training methodologies such as digital storytelling, gamification, and augmented/extended reality to actively engage different social groups, increase awareness of the impacts of hate and fake news, and provide validated and culturally sensitive curricula applicable in various European contexts.

FBK’s role

Fondazione Bruno Kessler participates in the project through its Center for Digital Society and Center for Augmented Intelligence, with the involvement of the C-Hub, LanD, ModiS, and PMG units. The scientific coordination is entrusted to Serena Bressan, who leads a team of researchers composed of Riccardo Gallotti, Marco Guerini, Annapaola Marconi, Lucila Gisele Alvarez Zuzek, Daniel Russo, Eftychia Roumelioti, and Matteo Gerosa.

“With ECLIPSE, we combine cutting-edge technologies and social sciences to offer professionals and citizens concrete, validated, and respectful tools for fundamental rights, capable of recognizing and countering hatred and disinformation in digital contexts and in real life,” Serena Bressan, Project Coordinator for FBK, noted.

Expected results

Among the main outcomes will be the production of policy briefs, in multiple languages, with operational recommendations for policymakers at national and European level. The intention is to promote common approaches to data collection and the implementation of countermeasures, in full respect of fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression and privacy.

Impact will be measured through pilot projects in Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, the UK, Spain, and Turkey, to ensure scalable impact and sustainability at national, European, and global levels.