University of Urbino
Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies
Fabio Giglietto, PhD, is Full Professor of Internet Studies at the Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo. He explores the intricate relationships between social systems, media, and digital technologies, focusing on the theory of information, communication, and society. His work has appeared in several journals, including the Journal of Communication, Information, Communication & Society, and Social Media + Society. According to Google Scholar, his publications have been cited over 2200 times.
Professor Giglietto's current research interests include coordinated behavior detection, multimodal narratives, and the challenges of social media data access. He leads the Mapping Italian News Research Program (MINE), which investigates Italian news media coverage and the impact of social media on Italian elections. He is also involved in the EU-funded Horizon Europe project VERAAI, developing AI-based tools to assist journalists and fact-checkers in verifying multimedia content and combating disinformation, with a focus on detecting coordinated behavior and inauthentic networks spreading misleading content. Additionally, he contributes to the EU-funded PROMPT initiative, addressing disinformation narratives across Europe. His recent research includes an analysis of Meta's political content reduction policy and its impact on the reach of Italian Members of Parliament on Facebook, revealing a significant reduction in visibility for mainstream politicians.
This academic year, Professor Giglietto is teaching courses such as Generative AI and Media and Digital Social Network Analysis. These courses reflect his engagement with contemporary issues in digital communication, including the impact of AI on the media system and methods for analyzing online social networks. He actively participates in professional discussions on platforms like BlueSky (@fabiogiglietto.bsky.social) and Mastodon, addressing topics such as platform policies and research methodologies. His work also examines the transformative effects of the Digital Services Act (DSA) on data access for platform research.
Giglietto, F. (2025). "A Pretty Blunt Approach": Meta's Political Content Reduction Policy and Italian Parliamentarians' Facebook Visibility. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8dqag_v2
Giglietto, F. (2025). The State of Social Media Research APIs & Tools in the Digital Service Act Era. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16269197
Giglietto, F. (2025). Manipolazione dei media ed influenza digitale. Sfide, tecnologie e risposte. .
Giglietto, F. (2025). Viralità. .
Giglietto, F. (2025). "A Pretty Blunt Approach": Meta's Political Content Reduction Policy and Italian Parliamentarians' Facebook Visibility. Center for Open Science. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/8dqag_v1
An EU-funded Horizon Europe project that developed advanced AI-based tools to assist journalists and fact-checkers in verifying multimedia content and combating disinformation. As Work Package 4 leader, I focused on the detection of coordinated behavior and inauthentic networks spreading misleading content.
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An EU-funded initiative focused on detecting and analyzing disinformation narratives across Europe, addressing sensitive issues including the war in Ukraine, LGBTQI+ rights, and European elections through the development of language models, monitoring dashboards, and educational resources for fact-checkers and journalists.
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A research program investigating Italian news media coverage and the impact of social media on Italian elections, leveraging data from Social Science One and grant funding from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC).
Learn moreSeveral papers are being examined, including studies on: the persuasiveness of climate messages; the Tate-space on YouTube; the influence of industry in social media research; trust in balanced news chatbots among those with varying conspiracy beliefs; the discursive flexibility of platform change in Meta, TikTok, YouTube and X.
Read moreA selection of recently published papers are highlighted, covering topics such as: the impact of algorithmic amplification on organizational messaging via social bots; the logic of connective faction in digitally networked elites and hyper-partisan media; the generative AI paradox regarding trust and information verification; and Sky News Australia's role as a right-wing propaganda machine.
Read moreResearch highlights a 72% reach reduction for Italian Members of Parliament on Facebook following Meta's reversal of its political content reduction policy one year prior. The effects were detected 10 months before Meta's global rollout. The study indicates that extremists gained reach (+14%) while elected officials lost it.
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