05/10/2026
Sabancı University will contribute to the development of innovative technologies and new approaches to combat hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation in both online and offline environments. A research team led by Dr. Onur Varol, a faculty member at the Sabancı University Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, will contribute to the ECLIPSE project, supported by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Program, through their work in social network analysis. Ali Najafi, a PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering at Sabancı University, is also participating in the project as a researcher alongside Dr. Onur Varol.
The research team led by Dr. Onur Varol will be responsible for developing a social network analysis (SNA) module within the scope of the project and will analyze content on these platforms using their expertise in Turkish natural language processing. Leveraging their background in Computational Social Sciences and experience gained at the VRL Lab (varollab.com), the team aims to develop a tool capable of mapping relationships between accounts and actors in digital communities, as well as identifying prominent manipulative strategies and coordination patterns.
Combining Technology and Social Sciences
The ECLIPSE project, supported under the Horizon Europe program, will focus on developing new tools and strategies to analyze harmful content and create counter-narratives through the collaboration of law enforcement agencies, civil society organizations, and international bodies. The project will leverage technologies such as natural language processing, social network analysis, and natural language generation.
In addition to detecting harmful content, the project encompasses efforts to improve media literacy and create training modules for professionals. Awareness regarding the societal impact of hate speech, misinformation, and disinformation will be raised through methods such as digital storytelling, gamification, and augmented/extended reality. Fundamental rights, including freedom of expression and privacy, will be upheld throughout the project's duration.
ECLIPSE to Run Until 2028
Pilot studies will be conducted in Belgium, Germany/Austria, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Türkiye as part of the ECLIPSE project, which launches in 2025 and runs until 2028. Carried out in multiple languages, the project aims to ensure that the solutions developed are both applicable and sustainable across Europe and on a broader scale.
