Populism is on the rise across Europe, and most organizations — from media companies to governments — don't have good tools to understand why or what to do about it. This project brought together researchers from 15 countries to study what drives people toward populist movements, how disinformation spreads, and what actually works to rebuild trust. They built practical tools including games for discussing sensitive political topics, educational materials, and a system for detecting foreign influence campaigns. Think of it as a diagnostic toolkit for the health of democratic engagement — like a thermometer for political risk.
Organizations across Europe — media companies, government agencies, educational institutions — face growing populist movements and disinformation campaigns but lack evidence-based tools to understand, predict, or respond to them. Most approaches are reactive and based on gut feeling rather than data. The cost of getting it wrong ranges from regulatory penalties under new EU digital laws to reputational damage and lost public trust.
The project produced 24 deliverables including: an identity game and trust game for facilitating discussions on politically sensitive topics, educational tools for democratic engagement, a tool for detecting Russian influence campaigns, populism indicators and predictors, political scenarios based on deliberative polling, and policy recommendations based on comparative analysis across 15 countries.
If you are a media company or monitoring firm dealing with the spread of disinformation and foreign influence in your content ecosystem — this project developed a tool for detecting Russian influence and text mining methods tested across 15 countries. These tools can help you flag manipulation campaigns before they go viral and protect your editorial credibility.
If you are a political consulting or public affairs firm struggling to predict populist sentiment shifts — this project developed indicators and predictors of populism along with political scenarios tested through deliberative polling and surveys across 15 countries. These can sharpen your advisory services and risk assessments for corporate or government clients.
If you are an education provider looking for evidence-based tools to teach democratic engagement — this project built and piloted educational tools, an identity game, and a trust game designed to help people discuss politically sensitive topics. With 24 deliverables and testing across multiple countries, these tools are ready for adaptation into digital learning platforms.
Based on available project data, no pricing or licensing terms are mentioned. The project was publicly funded under Horizon 2020 (RIA), so many outputs may be openly available. Contact the coordinator at HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences in Hungary to discuss access terms.
The research was conducted across 15 countries with 16 consortium partners, covering Western, Central, and Eastern Europe. The comparative methodology was specifically designed to account for varying cultural and socioeconomic contexts, suggesting the tools can adapt across European markets.
Based on available project data, no patents are mentioned. As a Research and Innovation Action (RIA), outputs are typically published openly. The educational tools, games, and detection methods may be available under open access terms, though commercial use conditions should be verified with the coordinator.
The project used experimental research methods including deliberative polling, text mining, surveys, and lab-based experiments. Participants were invited to discuss politically sensitive topics using role-play tools. Testing spanned 10 disciplines across 15 partner countries.
The text mining capabilities and influence detection tools were developed as research methods. Based on available project data, no API or plug-in integration is documented. Adaptation for commercial platforms would likely require development work with the research teams.
The project produced policy recommendations and legal analysis relevant to EU governance. For companies subject to the EU Digital Services Act or similar regulations around disinformation, the detection tools and indicators could support compliance efforts.
The DEMOS consortium is entirely academic — 12 universities and 3 research organizations with zero industry partners and zero SMEs across 16 partners in 15 countries. This is a strength for research credibility and geographic coverage (spanning Western Europe to the Balkans), but a clear weakness for commercial readiness. There is no built-in pathway to market. Any business wanting to use these tools would need to partner directly with the research teams to adapt outputs for commercial use. The coordinator is HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences in Hungary, a public research institution.
HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences (Hungary) — search for DEMOS H2020 project coordinator contact on the project website
SciTransfer can help you evaluate whether DEMOS tools fit your disinformation monitoring or civic engagement needs, and organize an introduction to the right research team.
