About the Project
As Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, people around the world are trying to make sense of this ongoing regional geopolitical flashpoint. As is often the case, accessing accurate and trustworthy information about an active conflict is a minefield littered with mis- and disinformation, myths, and conspiracy theories. To help policymakers and the public find accurate information about the conflict and stem the tide of misinformation about the conflict, we are pleased to present the Russia-Ukraine ConflictMisinfo Research Portal, a rapid response project of the Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. The portal is designed to be a resource for analysts and researchers interested in studying the nature and scale of online misinformation and disinformation about the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
The portal features the following resources:
- ConflictMisinfo Dashboard – An information management tool for monitoring online misinformation and disinformation about the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It tracks and visualizes debunked claims from 100s of trusted fact-checkers from around the world, such as AFP and Reuters.
- Russia-Ukraine ConflictMisinfo Geo-Map – A map of debunked claims about the Russia-Ukraine war that specifically references a geographical location.
- The Reach of Russian Propaganda and Disinformation in Canada – A public report that examines the extent to which Canadians are exposed to and might be influenced by pro-Kremlin propaganda on social media based on a census-balanced national survey of 1,500 Canadians.
- Understanding Factors that Contribute to Belief in Pro-Kremlin Disinformation on Social Media – A new study in Social Media + Society examines factors that predict belief in pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives regarding the Russia–Ukraine war.
- External Resources – A curated list of projects and initiatives aimed at investigating and verifying Russian propaganda and disinformation on and offline.
- Educational Games – A curated list of educational games to develop critical thinking and digital literacy skills to detect misinformation on various topics.
- External Datasets – A curated list of publicly available datasets for studying dis- & misinformation campaigns on social media in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war.
- Senate of Canada Hearing – Social Media Lab’s Directors Anatoliy Gruzd & Philip Mai’s visit to Ottawa, featuring remarks by Dr. Gruzd to the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs on ways to mitigate the impact of Russian disinformation.
About the Project Team
The Russia-Ukraine ConflictMisinfo Portal is developed and maintained by the Social Media Lab at Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University. The portal is the latest initiative in our ongoing research on the spread of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Professor and Canada Research Chair, Co-Director of the Social Media Lab
Senior Researcher and Co-Director of the Social Media Lab
Disclaimer About Third-party Websites
The Social Media Lab has no control over the contents of third-party websites in this list and accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. Links to third-party sites are provided solely as a convenience to you and are in no way an endorsement by the Social Media Lab. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites shared on this website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.
Data Source
The data for the ConflictMisinfo Dashboard comes from the Google Fact Check Tools API and is collected using a custom script developed by the Lab. Once collected, we process and translate the data into English, Ukrainian and Russian before displaying it via the dashboard.
How to use the ConflictMisinfo Dashboard
- You can use the drop-down menu to narrow your search parameters or click on any data points on the various interactive charts.
- Click on the URLs in the table to learn more about each fact-checked claim.
- To reset the previously selected filter(s), click on the little back arrow button in the upper left corner of the chart.
- To reset the dashboard, use your browser’s ‘reload page’ button.
- See our full tutorial to learn more about the dashboard’s advanced filtering options.
