Grants to improve Public Spaces in Pennsylvania

The Global Engagement Center (GEC) is soliciting applications to conduct quantified and qualified research into the scope and scale of foreign propaganda and disinformation within games and game-adjacent platforms, specifically focusing on Eastern Europe. This initiative aligns with the GEC's broader mission to counter foreign state and non-state propaganda and disinformation, by fostering a deeper understanding of these activities in emerging digital spaces. The program seeks to shed light on how these platforms are leveraged for malign influence campaigns, thereby strengthening global resilience against such threats. Upon completion of the research phase, the program aims to convene a diverse group of stakeholders, including governments, industry representatives, and civil society organizations. This convening will serve as a platform to disseminate the research findings and facilitate discussions on the implications and related research. This approach underscores the GEC's strategic priority of promoting collaborative responses to disinformation, leveraging shared knowledge and expertise across sectors. The primary beneficiaries of this program are the governments, industry, and civil society organizations that will utilize the research findings to inform their strategies and counter-disinformation efforts. Ultimately, the program seeks to benefit the populations in Eastern Europe and beyond who are targeted by foreign propaganda and disinformation. The impact goals include enhancing the collective understanding of the disinformation landscape in gaming, fostering cross-sectoral collaboration, and enabling more effective countermeasures against foreign malign influence. The program's priorities and focuses are clearly on rigorous, evidence-based research into a novel and critical area of disinformation. It prioritizes understanding the "scope and scale" of these activities, indicating a focus on comprehensive data collection and analysis. Expected outcomes include a detailed report on foreign propaganda and disinformation in gaming platforms, increased awareness among stakeholders, and the initiation of informed discussions and potential collaborative actions to address these threats. Measurable results could include the publication of the research, the number and diversity of participants in the convening, and subsequent policy or platform changes inspired by the findings.