University of Urbino
Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies
Fabio Giglietto is a Full Professor of Internet Studies at the Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, where he also earned his doctorate. Working at the intersection of computational social science, political communication, and digital platform analysis, his research focuses on information disorders and coordinated behavior on social media. In the classroom, he shares his expertise with students by teaching courses on Generative AI and Media as well as Digital Social Network Analysis. His academic work seeks to understand how digital technologies and platforms shape contemporary public discourse, elections, and information ecosystems.
He is the founder and coordinator of the Mapping Italian News Research Program (MINE), established in 2017. While all of its externally funded sub-projects have now concluded, MINE remains active as the institutional umbrella for his ongoing research line, having previously hosted a succession of sub-projects on elections, public opinion, and health information. Within this program, Giglietto co-developed CooRnet, an open-source R package that pioneered the Coordinated Link Sharing Behavior (CLSB) detection method. Although CooRnet was discontinued following the shutdown of Meta's CrowdTangle in August 2024, the CLSB methodology continues to thrive through CooRTweet, a downstream, independently maintained R package that extends coordinated behavior detection to other platforms.
Giglietto's recent European engagements include serving as the Work Package 4 Leader for the Horizon Europe project vera.ai, which concluded in late 2025, and as a partner on the PROMPT project, which concluded in early 2026. Beyond his academic research, he is a founding partner (socio fondatore) of Digit Srl, a benefit-corporation spin-off of the University of Urbino Carlo Bo that designs digital platforms dedicated to sustainability, civic participation, social innovation, and scientific dissemination. He is also actively involved in the global scientific community as a member of the International Communication Association, the Association of Internet Researchers, the Italian Association for Political Communication, and has served on the board of the International Sociological Association's Research Committee 51 on Sociocybernetics.
Marino, G., Paroni, B., & Giglietto, F. (2026). Measuring partisan community dynamics: a longitudinal analysis of affective engagement in pro-Bolsonaro Facebook networks. Information, Communication & Society. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2026.2696929
Giglietto, F. (2026). VERA-AI Alert: Self-updating detection of coordinated sharing behaviour on Facebook. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21234935
Giglietto, F., Graham, T., & Righetti, N. (2026). Navigating Coordination and Inauthentic Behaviour. The Routledge Companion to Social Media and Politics. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003359524-24
Giglietto, F., & Marino, G. (2026). Beyond the share button: How partisan alignment, journalistic quality, and algorithmic governance shape what millions see on Facebook. Platforms & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/29768624261452529
Giglietto, F., & Puschmann, C. (2026). From the Wild West to the Walled Garden. M/C Journal. https://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.3257
Research programme active at the University of Urbino since 2017, investigating Italian media coverage and the impact of social media on electoral processes, public opinion and health information. MINE has hosted a succession of externally funded sub-projects (listed separately below). All sub-grants are now concluded; the programme remains active as the institutional and intellectual umbrella for the PI's ongoing research line, with no active external grant at present.
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European Commission project (DG CNECT) dedicated to monitoring disinformation narratives in 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. MINE sub-project.
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Horizon Europe project developing AI-based tools to assist journalists and fact-checkers in verifying multimedia content and countering disinformation. As WP4 Leader, Fabio Giglietto led the work package focused on detection of coordinated behaviour and inauthentic networks spreading misleading content. MINE sub-project.
Learn moreA growing body of cognitive and political research examines how conversational AI models can actively shift human beliefs and mitigate conspiracy theories. Recent studies, including work by Johannes Kotz et al., explore AI's capacity to sway policy support among skeptics, while research from Kobi Hackenburg et al. suggests AI systems can now out-persuade expert humans. Additionally, Thomas H. Costello and colleagues demonstrate how personalized dialogues with AI can durably reduce entrenched conspiracy beliefs.
Read moreScholars are advancing the study of digital propaganda and polarization across diverse global contexts. Emelie Karlsson's work investigates how media narratives shape the perceived impact of digital election interference. Concurrently, Gabrielle D. Beacken et al. analyze the intersection of generative AI, propaganda, and digital authoritarianism across six weakened democracies, while studies by Makeev et al. and Lorenzo Mosca et al. explore state-sponsored media strategies in the Russo-Ukrainian war and rhetorical weaponization in European journalism.
Read moreThe shifting landscape of digital platform regulation and content moderation is the focus of several key publications. In Science Advances, Paul Bouchaud and Pedro Ramaciotti analyze how X's Community Notes may undermoderate polarizing content by design, presenting electoral risks. This aligns with work by Anja Bechmann reimagining collective platform behavior as democratic infrastructure under the Digital Services Act (DSA), and Valentine Crosset et al.'s comparative analysis of EU and US platform legislation.
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