Research on the Phenomenon of Self-Organization of Online Communities for Countering Misinformation, Lies and Manipulation: The Case of Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian Communities in Europe
Joint Ukrainian-Lithuanian Research Project
Partners
Ukraine:
State Higher Educational Institution “Pryazovskyi State Technical University” (PSTU)
Lithuania:
Mykolas Romeris University (MRU)
Project Duration
2026–2027 | 24 months
Funding
The project is implemented within the Ukrainian-Lithuanian Joint Research Programme with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the Research Council of Lithuania.
About the Project
Disinformation, manipulative content and information influence have become major challenges for online communities, particularly in the context of war and large-scale displacement.
The project investigates how online communities of Ukrainians, Russians and Belarusians self-organize to counter disinformation and manipulation without centralized management or professional moderation.
The research is conducted in Ukraine and Lithuania and combines online community analysis, automated monitoring of online discussions, machine learning, artificial intelligence and content analysis.
Aim
The project aims to investigate the conditions and factors that lead to the self-organization of online communities in response to disinformation and manipulation, identify different forms of such self-organization, and develop tools for assessing the digital resilience of online communities.
Main Objectives
- define criteria for selecting online communities and establish the research methodology;
- develop and test software tools for automated monitoring of online discussions;
- collect empirical data in Ukraine and Lithuania;
- unify and anonymize collected data in accordance with ethical and legal requirements;
- analyse data using machine learning and artificial intelligence methods;
- identify factors and patterns that support effective self-organization of online communities;
- develop digital resilience indicators;
- prepare practical recommendations for online communities and policymakers;
- disseminate research results through scientific publications, conferences, seminars and open research resources.
Expected Results
The project will deliver:
- a set of digital resilience indicators for online communities;
- a methodology for assessing the level of self-organization and community resilience to disinformation;
- open-source software for monitoring online discussions;
- an open anonymized dataset for further research;
- an identified set of factors influencing the emergence and development of online community self-organization;
- practical guidelines and scenarios for working with online communities;
- policy briefs for Ukrainian, Lithuanian and EU authorities;
- at least 2 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals;
- at least 2 presentations at scientific conferences.
Project Team
Ukraine — PSTU
Olena Khadzhynova
Principal Investigator of the Ukrainian team, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Rector
Oleksiy Mints
Doctor of Economics, Professor, Head of the Department of Finance, Accounting and Banking at PSTU. Expertise: data analysis, machine learning, information and economic security.
Evgeniya Milyaeva
PhD student at PSTU. Research interests: economic security, digitalization and crisis management.
Lithuania — MRU
Žaneta Simanavičienė
Principal Investigator of the Lithuanian team, Professor at MRU, Doctor of Social Sciences (Economics), Head of the Sustainable Innovations Laboratory.