About
The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) is a pioneer in the field of cyber-security, working tirelessly to identify and forecast cyber-social threats that target individuals, organizations, and communities. Utilizing contagion models and machine learning, NCRI focuses on countering the spread of political lies, hate, and manipulation, particularly on social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X (formally Twitter). Their mission reaches beyond technology, aiming to protect vulnerable communities, public health, democratic values, and civil society, making the internet a safer place for all.
Challenge
The digital age has exacerbated online manipulation, exposing children to exploitation and communities to threats that could escalate into real-world violence. NCRI’s task of monitoring and mitigating these threats required access to public web data across various social media platforms. The Bright Initiative came to the forefront, providing NCRI with Bright Data’s Proxy infrastructure, as well as tailor made Datasets and Web Scrapers. These market-leading tools are enabling NCRI to gather the necessary data and track potential harm efficiently.
“NCRI has seen firsthand the positive impact and significant value of partners like Bright Data. Bright Data provides public data that has statistical significance across social media platforms and other publicly accessible digital forums. Using NCRI’s specific skill set and pioneering methodologies in evaluating scaled social media data to identify trends that could lead to real-world violence, we have successfully forecasted potential threats. For instance, NCRI was able to leverage Bright Data’s datasets to track emerging antisemitic threats, which are unfortunately ever-increasing. The work Bright Data and other companies do can help inform law enforcement officials of potential threats to places of worship.”
Adam Sohn, CEO, NCRI
Impact
The partnership has dramatically enhanced the capacity to safeguard the digital space. Using publicly available data, they are successfully identifying, forecasting, and mitigating online threats, often before they could escalate into tangible harm. This collaboration stands as a beacon of how technology and data can be harnessed for the greater good. Through this initiative, they are not only protecting individuals and communities from digital dangers but also protecting the integrity of the virtual public square. This project proved that the online world can indeed be a space for connection and community without sacrificing security and ethics.
Supporters of Indian separatists using Twitter bots to promote violence – The Washington Post
“How Twitter and Elon Musk can prevent racist ‘raids’ on the social network” – CNBC
