Project Echo

"Project Echo" is an anti-disinformation campaign communicated using provocative artistic methods. The project intelligently tracks the spread of 2020 election-related disinformation on Twitter and exposes the dynamics of disinformation swarms to the American public. We carefully curate topics that are fact-checked, identify the likelihood of Twitter bot involvement in organized astroturfing efforts, and make it possible for the public to monitor the viral development of a spread in real-time. Using a publicly accessible website and messaging campaign methods such as billboards, this project leverages the power of the arts to engage the public to rethink the tenuous relationship between democracy and truth today.

Funds raised will be used to for graduate students to maintain the project and further develop the data science aspect of the project, and it will be used to rent billboards or other advertisement methods to promote the project.

The highly qualified interdisciplinary team is lead by Jiayi Young (Associate Professor, Design) in collaboration with Zhi Ding (Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering) and advised by Amber Boydstun (Professor, Political Science). Through a combined effort, new topics are added to the website every week and are tracked indefinitely.

Project Website: project-echo.ucdavis.edu