President Joe Biden’s administration approved a $5 million grant for a university program that would help journalists who have been subject to “misinformation-driven harassment campaigns."
George Washington University’s Expert Voices Together program is “a socio-technical system that provides real-time support to experts experiencing online harassment,” according to the government grant database.
The National Science Foundation first approved $749,222 for the project in 2021, and approved its continuation last year, with the funding set to end on August 31, 2024.
“Misinformation-driven harassment campaigns have particularly large impacts on those at the forefront of efforts to accurately inform the public, including journalists, scientists, and public health officials,” the description of the grant summary reads.
It adds that “this harassment undermines confidence in pivotal sources of knowledge and reduces expert participation in the political ecosystem.”
The project will “initially focus on supporting journalists, later expanding its reach to other expert communities.”