The DSA’s research access: a flawed system

The Digital Service Act does not do enough for research access. While its article §40 implements a duty for very large online platforms (VLOPs) and very large online search engines (VLOSEs) to allow research access, it is not sufficient.
That is why the TWON collaborated with Digits EU, and the Digital Law Institute Trier to feedback the commission on loopholes in this paragraph. The result is an official statement, that the commission now considers.

Their main points of criticism are:

Data access to what? Allow specific requests, as data on minor algorithm changes for specific user groups is currently enclosed. Broaden the definition of systemic risks and create transparency around A/B tests, as they hold great research value.

Data access for whom? Peer review is a standard research process, so peer access to data sets is necessary. Also, allow short-notice data-reaccess to react after peer review, enable group-verifications and create a clear definition of the researcher status to prevent too high barriers.

Verification of data? Currently there is no control mechanism to ensure that the provided data by VLOPs and VLOSEs is correct. An obligation to provide correct datasets needs to be implemented.

Find the full statement here.

Call for Papers on Semantic Generative AI

Call for Papers! 📝🚨

Are you researching social interactions of any combination of agents and/or humans on the web, including the architectures and platforms enabling and influencing those interactions? Then you are a fit.💡

For our workshop on semantic generative agents on the web at the ESWC 2025 in Slovenia we are still accepting papers. Especially welcome are submissions on agent knowledge representation, their reasoning capabilities and way of communication. 💬

Topics of interest include
– Agents for simulating (nonrational) human behavior
– Agents on the (social) web for analyzing communicative behavior
– Platforms for simulating and researching agent communication and platform mechanics
– Recursive AI agents for higher levels of task complexity, adaptivity, and autonomy

We encourage papers from different backgrounds, various disciplines and of various lengths. Papers going beyond traditional paper formats, like demo, data and position papers, are welcome! 🎯

📍Submission deadline is the 6th of March.
📍Paper submission requires the conference attendance of at least one involved researcher. The conference takes place from June 1st to June 5th in Portoroz, Slovenia.

Find out more about it here.

Recommender systems -Shaping our news?

A speech by Damian Trilling​

How can we ensure trust and responsibility in the use of generative AI? What role does it hold in the future of media? What are recommender systems and how do they shape our news feeds?

These were the key questions discussed at the Media Futures Annual Meeting in Bergen, Norway, which brought together over 130 participants from organizations such as @BBC Verify, TV 2, Nokia Bell Labs Cambridge, Amazon Web Services, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Dataminr.
TWON-consortium leader Damian Trilling, professor at Vrjje Universiteit Amsterdam, discussed one of the above mentioned questions in his closing speech: He outlined the impact of different responsible recommender systems for news, as there needs to be a balance between user engagement and ethical considerations.
The Twin of Online Social Networks (TWON) can help to find out, what this balance shall look like and what the impacts of a disbalance are.

The event also featured insightful keynotes that discussed emerging ethical challenges and technological strategies to tackle them, assessed the potential of AI in disaster response, stressed the addressing of falsehoods in uncertain times or showed the impact of regular and early smartphone usage on our world view.

We are happy about the success of the SFI MediaFutures Annual Meeting 2024, fostering collaboration between researchers, industry experts and practitioners.

How to counter Antisemitism online – The European Practitioners network against Antisemitism meets

How does antisemitism appear on social media? What is the role of platform operators when it comes to the moderation of hateful content? And how to counter antisemitism online?

These were only some of the questions discussed during DialoguePerspective’s European Practitioners Network Against Antisemitism meeting in Belgrade this November. In a number of input sessions and workshops participants exchanged the challenges and developed possible solutions, with a focus on intersectionality and younger generations. A visit to a local synagogue gave the chance to grasp realities of Jewish life in Serbia.

In the panel discussion TWON’s Jonas Fegert discussed with Katharina von Schnurbein (European Commission’s Coordination on combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life), Friedrich Enders (TikTok) and Misko Stanisicšić (Terraforming). Moderated by Jo Frank (DialoguePerspectives) they talked about countering antisemitism online. Jonas Fegert stressed the importance of understanding platform mechanisms, as there is currently a lack of transparency. A Twin of Online Social Networks (a TWON), such as the one we are currently building, is a crucial tool to understanding the effects of platform design choices. The researcher access to platform data guaranteed by the Digital Services Act (DSA) is a chance to shed light in this field. But it is also the responsibility of platform operators to create transparency and cooperate with researchers.

The event was kicked off by remarks by Anke Konrad (German Ambassador to Serbia), Avivit Bar-Ilan (Israeli Ambassador to Serbia), Edward Ferguson (UK Ambassador to Serbia), Brankica Janković (Commission for Protection of Equality, Serbia) and Katharina von Schnurbein.

Thank you for the great discussions with practitioners, activists, policy makers and platform operators!

On the Ethics of Using TWONs: TWON Policy Brief #1

Researchers of the TWON consortium have achieved another milestone regarding the communication of results and insights of our EU-funded research project. As we are breaking new ground at the intersection of diverse academic discplines, we are confronted with new ethical questions relating to our work. A Digital Twin of an Online Social Network (TWON) may be a powerful instrument for researching and regulating digital public spaces. Yet, the vast and detailed datasets on user behaviour also pose significant ethical risks. TWONs could be used to undermine user interests and democratic norms. Important questions arise with regard to the technological tools we are developing: Who should have access to these tools? How should these tools be regulated?

As scholars researching the relationship of social and political dynamics on one hand and digital technologies and communicative settings on the other hand, we do not want to shy away from these important normative questions: The answers to these questions may well determine the societal impact of our joint research project. Therefore, we aim to address these crucial normative and ethical questions heads on. Our first TWON Policy Brief, thus, focuses on these questions, emphasizing the importance of ethical considerations in our research and the dissemination of our findings. The policy brief sketches out possible approaches to TWONs, different governance and regulation frameworks as well as their risks and benefits.

The full report can be found here.

2024-10-28_TWON-policy-briefDownload

 

Consortium Meeting in Dubrovnik

The first half of our 3-year project has passed. So, it was time to come together as a consortium, share our progress and discuss the next steps.

Hosted by Marko Grobelnik and his team, we met at Jozef Stefan Institute’s partner organization, the Center for Advanced Academic Studies, in beautiful Dubrovnik. After an opening keynote by Prof. Marko Tadić who is a linguist at the University of Zagreb, we updated each other on the status of the TWON and decided to build a demonstrator – the Twonny! The Twonny will help us to communicate the results and insights of our complex research project ot a wider public. Apart from that we discussed the design of our case studies with Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and Slovenska tiskovna agencija (STA) and planned our work in the coming months.

The last day was kicked off with a workshop by the FZI Forschungszentrum Informatik on stakeholders and policy recommendations. The advisory board member Judith Peterka delivered an input and the team worked on policy recommendations, that participants of DialoguePerspectives’ TWON Citizen Lab had drafted. The day ended with a hackathon to find and fix bugs together.

Of course we also enjoyed the sea, went for a swim and had excellent Croatian seafood – and took the opportunity to grow together as a team and recharge our batteries for the work ahead.

How to build digital Spaces: Modeling, data analysis, and qualitative approaches.

MODIS 2024 Workshop Recap

The MODIS 2024 workshop, recently held as part of the Horizon Europe projects TWON and SoMe4Dem, successfully gathered experts from various fields to explore the role of online social networks (OSN) in shaping public opinion and democracy. Attendees discussed the latest research on misinformation, AI’s influence on digital platforms, and strategies to counter harmful narratives. The event highlighted key advancements in modeling user behavior and fostering resilience to propaganda, paving the way for future innovation in this critical area. OSNs were once believed to have an enormous potential to foster democratic debates and processes. In recent years, however, OSNs have been associated with various challenges for democracies and public discourse. These debates are often structured around key words such as echo chambers and filter bubbles and have garnered immense public attention. Research from computational social sciences, on the other hand, has painted a more nunanced picture. The symposium brought together insights from a broad range of research approaches, reflecting on methodologies and discussing future pathways and research agendas.

TWON’s Michael Mäs opened the workshop with his introduction. Later in the workshop he provided insights into his work as part of the TWON consortium, highlighting the scientific, technical, and ethical challenges that are linked to building a Twin of an Online Social Network (TWON).

For more details, visit the MODIS 2024 page.

Attendees of the MODIS 2024 symposium.

The first TWON Citizen Lab took place in Karlsruhe!

As part of the Days for Democracy Karlsruhe the participants of DialoguePerspectives’ European Leadership Workshop discussed on how online social networks influence democracy in the digital age.

Achim Rettinger (Trier University), Neta-Paulina Wagner (DialoguePerspectives) & Damian Trilling (Amsterdam University) (from left to right)

In workshops by TWON’s Prof. Damian Trilling, Prof. Achim Rettinger and Dr. Eugen Pissarskoi the participants learned about research approaches to social media dynamics, the ethics behind creating Twins of Online Social Networks (TWON) and the role of online social networks and AI in digital democracy. Melanie Döring and Marisa Wengeler from Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) held thought-provoking inputs on the EU’s Digital Services Act and media literacy as well as the concept of pre- and de-bunking in the online realm. Nuriyatul Lailiyah gave interesting insights on the usage of social media in Southeast Asia. The participants of the European Leadership Workshop not only discussed on the topics within the group, but also with citizens during public outdoor events in the Triangel Event Space Karlsruhe during a Bar Camp and a World Café format.

Discussions in small groups among participants of the European Leadership Workshop

At the end of the 4-day workshop (16.-19. September 2024) the participants worked on a policy brief on necessary regulatory action. This will be used as a basis for further discussion for the scientists of the TWON consortium.

Presentation of ideas for regulatory measures

The European Leadership Workshop moderated by DialoguePerspectives’ programme manager Neta-Paulina Wagner is an integral part of the TWON project:

– It works on the translation from research in to actionable solutions.

– It equips participants with the skills and insights needed to navigate and address the challenges posed by digital democracy.

– Participants actively contribute to the broader conversation on digital citizenship and how we can shape a more resilient, informed, and participatory society in the face of rapidly evolving digital challenges.

A big thank you to our partner DialoguePerspectives for organizing the workshop and thank you to all participants for the great discussions!

Panel Discussion Recap: The Intersection of Generative AI and Online Social Networks

In a panel discussion hosted by AlgorithmWatch in Berlin, the FZI’s Jonas Fegert emphasized the inseparable link between Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Online Social Networks (OSNs). He argued that to fully understand platform mechanisms, we need to develop Digital Twins of Online Social Networks (TWONs), which will provide greater insight into how these platforms function and influence user interactions. With our joint research project, we are taking important stapes in this direction.

The discussion explored the growing role of Generative AI in shaping online communication and the importance of transparent oversight to address the ethical and societal implications of these technologies. In the light of multiple state elections in Germany, the immediate political effects of OSNs and AI were another focal point of the discussion.

A Call to Action: New Paper on Youth Online Mental Health

The World Health Organization (WHO) has put forward guiding principles on online mental health for young people. In a newly published study, TWON-researchers integrate the WHO framework into a European context. They emphasize the impact of digital platforms and online social networks (OSNs) on mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified both the usage of digital technologies and a mental health crisis that is affecting young people in particular. Traditional services are increasingly losing touch with the young target group. Substantial challenges arise from the need to provide accessible and flexible mental health support while ensuring adherence to evidence-based guidelines.

The authors stress the special character of the European context: Typically, most young Europeans are growing up as digital natives, given the broad accessibility of advanced technology. Yet, there are important regional differences concerning the approach to mental health and the influence of social stigma related to the concept. Taking into account socioeconomic discrepancies and varying degrees of media literacy across Europe, this stresses the need for culturally sensitive mental health support. So far, online mental health services are often provided by independent organizations. But like other health-related services and products, the sector is in need of a sound regulatory framework to ensure both the quality and accessibility of services.

This highlights the need to gain a better understanding of platform mechanisms and the effects of algorithmic hyper-personalization and, therefore, the importance of our joint project TWON. Based on their research, the authors developed five core recommendations:

1. The specific European context must be considered.

2. Quality and accessibility of services must be balanced carefully.

3. Involving young people and families, leveraging their knowledge while enhancing digital literacy, is key.

4. The rise of AI must be addressed, concerning both the potential of AI for developing mental health support and the risks of biases and misinformation.

5. A regulatory framework must be developed to ensure safety, effectiveness, and ethical standards.

If you want to learn more about the issue, you can access the full article here!