Reclaiming Reality: Combating Online Hate and Lies in the Post-truth Era

In today’s digital landscape, shaped by what many describe as a ‘post-truth era’, public discourse is frequently challenged by political polarisation and a growing distrust of verifiable facts. Within this environment, online hostility and disinformation have become deeply intertwined, exploiting digital platforms to spread harmful narratives and incite division. But what happens when hate is hidden behind a seemingly harmless joke, or when artificial intelligence makes it impossible to trust our own eyes? This article explores how we define these evolving threats today and highlights how the Horizon Europe project ECLIPSE aims to prevent and counter the spread of harmful narratives while enhancing the citizens’ perceptions of security.

How do you define hate speech and disinformation?

The terms hate speech and disinformation are often interconnected and boundaries between the two are shaped by contexts, intent and impact rather than just content. Within ECLIPSE, the definition of Hate Speech encompasses any expression, be it verbal, visual, or symbolic, that advocates for or incites violence, discrimination, or dehumanisation against individuals or groups based on protected characteristics like race, religion, or gender identity. Crucially, this definition accounts for implicit hate, such as ‘dog whistles’ (coded language whose hidden meaning is understood only by certain groups) or seemingly innocent emojis to bypass automated filters. Conversely, disinformation is defined as demonstrably false or misleading information created with the intent to deceive or manipulate. Unlike misinformation, which may be shared accidentally, disinformation is a strategic tool often used to fuel hate narratives or undermine democratic institutions.

Multimodal threats

Memes and emojis are often thought of as harmless fun, but can be weaponised to spread hate and disinformation. Because an image can be understood in seconds and appeals to our emotions, it is often more powerful than a long, logical argument. Current research by Salhi and Goldhorn (2025) shows how this phenomenon has become widespread across social media platforms like TikTok. For instance, they found that people use Juicebox emojis to refer to Jewish people (a play on the similar sound of the words) specifically to covertly express hate while evading the platform’s content moderation systems. This so-called ‘memefication’ of hate makes it look like a joke, which helps it spread faster to younger audiences. Findings from the ECLIPSE project underscore that we have moved past simple text-based attacks. These occurrences are part of an era of multimodal harm. Memes, for instance, are no longer just for humour; they become multimodal metaphors that can simplify complex worldviews into digestible, emotionally charged images that resonate far more deeply than rational arguments.

The AI Threat: Deepfakes and Synthetic Lies

One of the most recent shifts is the commoditisation of Artificial Intelligence. Nowadays, it has become much easier for anyone to create a deepfake, i.e., a video or audio clip that looks and sounds exactly like a real person saying something they never actually said. Deepfakes are not just used for celebrity parodies; they are increasingly deployed to spread disinformation about political events such as wars and elections. In turn, this erodes public trust, leaving people unable to distinguish what is real and what is not.

Why this matters for you and what we can do

Social media apps are designed to keep us scrolling by showing content that triggers anger or outrage. This creates so-called ‘echo chambers’ where we are only exposed to one side of a story and begin to perceive anyone who disagrees as a threat.

ECLIPSE targets this issue by improving cultural literacy. It is essential to understand that the internet is not always a mirror of reality but a place where our perceptions are being actively shaped by algorithms and hidden agendas. By setting clear definitions regarding hate speech, hate crimes and disinformation, the ECLIPSE project is taking the first step toward reclaiming a digital world where facts matter and aims to provide a suite of tools that address these challenges.

Author: SYNYO