Research project tracking social media faces conservative criticism

WASHINGTON — A federally funded university research project that seeks to track the spread of information — and misinformation — on social media is facing a swarm of criticism from conservative media outlets and lawmakers.

In the project, dubbed Truthy, researchers from Indiana University are studying Twitter usernames, hashtags, URLs and mentions to track and evaluate the spread of “memes” — pop-culture ideas expressed online.

Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said he has initiated an investigation into the National Science Foundation's grant to fund the research project.

Fox News segments, a flurry of articles and a Washington Post op-ed penned by a member of the Federal Communications Commission have criticized the project recently, expressing concerns over infringements of the First Amendment.

“Some bureaucrat deciding whether you are being hateful or misinforming people — what could possibly go wrong?” Fox News' Megan Kelly snarked in a lengthy segment on Truthy.

But Filippo Menczer, the project's lead researcher, who said he has been “blindsided” by the recent furor, said Truthy aims to preserve free speech, not limit it.

He said that since the project's inception in 2010, it had received positive media attention until the recent spate of stories, particularly in the conservative press.

“We're not limiting anyone's freedom of speech,” Menczer said. “If anything, (Truthy) helps citizens (gain) an understanding of how information is spreading.”

Menczer called the concerns surrounding the project “very narrow” since Truthy seeks to examine all types of information sharing on Twitter, not just political memes.

He said that when the project started in 2010, its focus was on key words associated with candidates in that year's midterm elections, but that since then, the project has expanded into other subject areas.

“Our studies are much more general than politics,” Menczer said.

He said the researchers also study “social movements and academic papers” and even possible correlations between crimes in different areas.

In 2011, researchers received nearly $1 million from the National Science Foundation, intended to fund the project until its scheduled completion in June 2015. Menczer said the project has been open with all of its papers and uses public data that can be accessed by anyone.

Smith is unconvinced.

“The government has no business using taxpayer dollars to support limiting free speech on Twitter and other social media,” Smith said in a statement. “The NSF is out of touch and out of control, and the Science Committee is investigating how this grant came to be awarded taxpayer dollars.”

The program has been roundly criticized by conservatives who believe Menczer is using federal dollars to advance a liberal agenda.

The story in the Washington Free Beacon that started the recent flap said Menczer “proclaims his support for numerous progressive advocacy groups, including President Barack Obama's Organizing for Action, Moveon.org, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, Amnesty International, and True Majority.”

Conservatives have also expressed irritation that Truthy has tracked the use of such hashtags as #teaparty, #tcot (“Top Conservatives on Twitter”) and #dems to assess the “partisanship” of users.

Menczer insists Truthy is nonpartisan and says it is “studying technology and how it can be abused. This should be appreciated by politicians,” he said.

lhagen@hearstdc.com