Fabio Giglietto
Professor of Internet Studies
University of Urbino
Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies
About Me
Fabio Giglietto, PhD, is Professor of Internet Studies at the Department of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies at the University of Urbino Carlo Bo. His research explores the intricate relationships between social systems, media, and digital technologies, with a focus on the theory of information, communication, and society. He teaches courses such as Generative AI and Media, and Digital Social Network Analysis. Professor Giglietto actively participates in professional discussions on platforms like BlueSky (@fabiogiglietto.bsky.social) and Mastodon, addressing topics such as platform policies and research methodologies.
Professor Giglietto's work encompasses social media analysis, computational social science, digital methods, and the study of information disorder. His research also focuses on how digital platforms influence public opinion and democratic processes. 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 for journalists and fact-checkers to verify multimedia content and combat disinformation, with a focus on detecting coordinated behavior and inauthentic networks. Additionally, he contributes to the EU-funded PROMPT initiative, which addresses disinformation narratives across Europe.
His publications have appeared in leading journals, including the Journal of Communication, Information, Communication & Society, the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Social Media + Society, and Social Science Computer Review. His publications have garnered over 2200 citations. Recent work includes an analysis of Meta's political content reduction policy and its impact on the reach of Italian parliamentarians on Facebook. His current research interests include coordinated behavior detection, multimodal narratives, and the challenges of social media data access.
Recent Publications
"A Pretty Blunt Approach": Meta's Political Content Reduction Policy and Italian Parliamentarians' Facebook Visibility
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
The State of Social Media Research APIs & Tools in the Digital Service Act Era
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
Manipolazione dei media ed influenza digitale. Sfide, tecnologie e risposte
Giglietto, F. (2025). Manipolazione dei media ed influenza digitale. Sfide, tecnologie e risposte. .
Viralità
Giglietto, F. (2025). Viralità. .
"A Pretty Blunt Approach": Meta's Political Content Reduction Policy and Italian Parliamentarians' Facebook Visibility
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
Research Projects
vera.ai - VERification Assisted by Artificial Intelligence
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.
Learn more
PROMPT - Predictive Research On Misinformation and Narratives Propagation Trajectories
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.
Learn more
MINE - Mapping Italian News Research Program
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 moreNews & Updates
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March 27, 2026
Recent academic discussions have highlighted several new papers. These include explorations of partisan effects of social media bans, information pathways in online science communication, the impact of dark patterns within the EU's Digital Services Act, and the challenges surrounding the migration of academics away from Twitter.
Read more -
March 18, 2026
New research examines various aspects of online behavior and artificial intelligence. Areas of focus include the representativeness of opt-in online samples, how recommender systems on platforms like X can inadvertently profile users' ideological positions, the presence of AI hype within journalism, the ability of Large Language Models (LLMs) to infer political alignment, and the detection of deepfake financial fraud.
Read more -
March 14, 2026
Studies have also been shared addressing connective action and digital repression during protests, the impact of conversational AI on political persuasion, everyday encounters with misinformation online, and coordinated inauthentic behavior on social media mimicking authentic support.
Read more
Recent Web and News Mentions
Facebook premia gli estremisti: la ricerca dell'Università di Urbino - Lumsanews
SOS! ORA L’ALGORITMO PUNTA SUI ‘COMPLOTTISTI’: “INTERVENIRE SUBITO!” - byoblu.com
Meno contenuti politici nei feed, la stretta di Meta è stata meno efficace contro gli estremisti - Il Sole 24 ORE
Less political content in feeds, Meta's clampdown less effective against extremists - Il Sole 24 ORE
Secondo uno studio dell'università di Urbino l'algoritmo di Facebook ora punisce la politica ufficiale e premia gli estremisti antieuropei. Pd e FdI verso una legge bipartisan sulle piattaforme - Open
While they're pretty smart, they might occasionally hallucinate a publication or get creative with facts. Take it with a grain of digital salt! 🧂