European Commission - Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology

02/12/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 02/12/2026 05:08

New call for proposals to advance social cohesion in the face of online polarisation

The European Commission has launched a call for proposals with a budget of €785,000 to advance social cohesion and the understanding of online political polarisation.

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This pilot project is expected to produce concrete, actionable outcomes that help better understand and address the drivers of political polarisation, while safeguarding freedom of expression and supporting balanced, evidence-based public debate.

The polarisation of online political discourse poses a growing threat to social cohesion and democratic resilience across the European Union. Digital platforms have become key arenas for political debate and civic engagement, but the same algorithmic systems that drive reach and engagement can also amplify extreme, divisive or manipulative content. In this, coordinated malicious influence operations and disinformation campaigns can flourish, undermining trust in democratic institutions and distorting public understanding of key societal issues.

The project will build cross-sector and cross-border partnerships to develop, test, and scale realistic mitigation strategies against harmful effects of polarisation without restricting democratic debate. It will also implement a variety of innovative tools to foster social cohesion.

The presented activities can involve, but do not have to be limited to pan-European or regional conferences, methodology design and multilingual data collection, development of IT and AI-based tools, production of practitioner toolkits, co-design and testing of technical, social and policy-oriented interventions and establishment of a durable network of stakeholders.

The call is open until 31 March 2026 and welcomes proposals from civil society organisations, information integrity professionals, fact-checkers, media literacy practitioners, educational, cultural and research institutions, universities, think thanks, media and social media organisations, online platforms, creative practitioners and technology companies.

Results will directly contribute to the objectives of the European Democracy Shield and strengthen long-term social cohesion and democratic resilience, while respecting the freedom of speech and diversity of viewpoints across Europe.

Find out more information about this call for proposals.

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