GDI

Our Mission

Our mission is to catalyse change. We aim to disrupt the business model of disinformation, breaking the perverse incentives that exist to create and disseminate disinformation online.

Our Story

Disinformation has become a business. Today’s internet business models reward engagement above all else. These models monetise attention without considering the quality of the content garnering that attention, or the harm that may result. There is a robust and growing community of industry, policy, and civil society advocates pressing for reform of this ecosystem, they all need data to inform their actions.

The Global Disinformation Index was born out of this need for data, specifically the need for transparent, independent neutral disinformation risk ratings across the open web. GDI’s founders recognized early on that in order to disrupt the business model of disinformation, commercial companies, researchers and policymakers alike need access to independent ratings of news sites’ disinformation risk. These risk ratings are then used by advertising technology companies to ensure advertisers money and brands do not end up supporting high risk websites. Stakeholders also need strong and consistent leadership to help navigate the ever changing disinformation landscape.

Thus, GDI was established in 2018 as a not-for-profit entity built on the three pillars of neutrality, independence and transparency.

What We Do

GDI provides independent, neutral and transparent data and intelligence to advise policymakers and business leaders about how to combat disinformation and its creators.

GDI’s work focuses on three primary areas. First is our neutral, independent, transparent index of a website’s risk of disinforming readers. We employ cutting edge artificial intelligence combined with thorough analyses of journalistic practice to best serve and inform advertisers, the ad tech industry, search and social media companies, and researchers.

Second is our independent, non-profit open source intelligence (OSINT) hub, which tracks disinformation and extremism across platforms online. We serve a broad array of governments, NGOs, online platforms and media.

Third is our policy team that provides data and research to support policy makers in governments, regulatory bodies and platforms around the world.