EUNOMIA · Project

Blockchain-Powered Tool That Detects Fake News and Scores Content Trustworthiness on Social Media

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Imagine you see a wild claim on social media and wonder — is this real, or did someone twist the original? EUNOMIA built a system that traces any piece of content back to its original source, shows you exactly how it changed as people shared it, and gives it a trustworthiness score. It works like a fact-checking chain of custody, powered by blockchain so nobody can tamper with the trail. The whole thing runs as a local app on your phone, keeping your data private while helping you and other users vote on what's credible.

By the numbers

consortium partners

countries represented

total project deliverables

SMEs in the consortium

58%

industry partner ratio

industry partners

The business problem

What needed solving

Misinformation and manipulated content spread faster than corrections on social media, eroding public trust and damaging brands, media organizations, and democratic processes. Current content moderation relies on centralized platforms that control the rules, creating single points of failure and bias. Businesses operating in media, communications, and platform technology need transparent, verifiable tools that let users themselves assess what's trustworthy — without surrendering control to a single gatekeeper.

The solution

What was built

EUNOMIA produced 42 deliverables including: a full blockchain infrastructure for transparent content verification, a peer-to-peer network layer with open APIs, a trustworthiness scoring engine that fuses information cascade tracking with user voting, a human-as-trust-sensor module, and a GDPR-compliant digital companion app that runs locally on user devices. The system was piloted with real communities on decentralized social media networks.

Audience

Who needs this

Decentralized social media platform operators (Mastodon, Bluesky ecosystem)News organizations and digital publishers fighting misinformationBrand safety and reputation management firmsCorporate communications teams monitoring information integrityMedia regulators and fact-checking organizations

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Media & Publishing

any

Target: News organizations, media houses, and digital publishers

If you are a news organization dealing with the spread of manipulated content damaging your credibility — this project developed a digital observatory and trustworthiness scoring system that traces information back to its original source and shows how it was modified across sharing cascades. It was evaluated with large communities in social journalism and traditional media. With 42 deliverables produced across 12 partners in 9 countries, the toolset is open-source and ready for integration.

Social Media & Platform Technology

SME

Target: Decentralized social media platforms and federated network operators

If you are a social media platform operator struggling with content moderation at scale — this project built a fully decentralized P2P infrastructure with blockchain-backed verification that lets users collectively assess content trustworthiness without centralized intermediaries. The system was specifically designed for open, federated networks and tested on the largest user community of the most popular decentralized social media network. It includes open APIs documented across 5 demo deliverables for developer integration.

Corporate Communications & Brand Safety

mid-size

Target: Brand safety firms and corporate reputation management companies

If you are a brand safety or reputation management firm dealing with misinformation that damages your clients' image — this project developed an information cascade mechanism that tracks how content spreads and mutates, combined with a human-as-trust-sensor module where real users vote on credibility. The GDPR-compliant digital companion ensures all processing respects data protection rules, critical for operating in the European market. The consortium included 5 SMEs and 7 industry partners who shaped the tool for commercial viability.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to deploy this technology?

The EUNOMIA solution is open-source, meaning there are no licensing fees for the core software. Deployment costs would depend on integration complexity with your existing platform. With 5 demo deliverables including open APIs and full documentation, the integration path is well-defined for developer teams.

Can this scale to handle large social media volumes?

The system was built on decentralized P2P infrastructure specifically designed to avoid centralized bottlenecks. It was evaluated with the largest user community of the most popular decentralized social media network. The blockchain infrastructure went through two development phases to reach full functionality by month 26.

What is the IP and licensing situation?

EUNOMIA is described as a fully open-source solution, which means the codebase is publicly available. The project involved 12 partners across 9 countries, so specific IP arrangements for any proprietary extensions should be clarified with the consortium. The open-source model makes commercial adoption straightforward.

How does this comply with European data protection regulations?

GDPR compliance was a core design requirement, not an afterthought. The digital companion runs as a local app on the user's device, meaning personal data stays on the user's hardware rather than being sent to central servers. This privacy-by-design approach directly addresses the strictest European data protection requirements.

How mature is this technology — is it ready for real-world use?

This was an Innovation Action that ran for 3 years and produced 42 deliverables. The blockchain infrastructure reached full functionality, the P2P system was fully implemented, and the trustworthiness scoring system was tested in pilot phases with real communities. The project completed in November 2021.

How does this integrate with existing social media infrastructure?

EUNOMIA was designed for decentralized and federated social networks, with open APIs documented across its demo deliverables. The P2P infrastructure includes APIs that allow other modules to integrate. While built for open networks, the underlying trust-scoring and cascade-tracking technologies could be adapted for other platforms.

Who built this and can they provide support?

The consortium was led by the University of Greenwich (UK) and included 12 partners from 9 countries, with 7 industry partners and 5 SMEs. The 58% industry ratio indicates strong commercial orientation. The project website at eunomia.social may have contact details for ongoing support.

Consortium

Who built it

The EUNOMIA consortium of 12 partners across 9 countries has a strong commercial orientation with 58% industry participation — 7 industry partners including 5 SMEs. This is well above average for EU research projects and signals the technology was shaped with real market needs in mind. The geographic spread across Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Romania, and the UK gives the solution a pan-European testing ground. Led by the University of Greenwich, the mix of 3 universities and 1 research organization providing scientific depth alongside 7 industry players building deployable tools makes this consortium well-balanced for bringing a product to market.

UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICHCoordinator · UK
EDEX - EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE CORPORATION LIMITEDparticipant · CY
PANEPISTIMIO DYTIKIS ATTIKISparticipant · EL
TRILATERAL RESEARCH LIMITEDparticipant · IE
SYNYO GmbHparticipant · AT
SOFTWARE IMAGINATION AND VISION SRLparticipant · RO
EUROSOFT DEVELOPMENT SAparticipant · RO
TRILATERAL RESEARCH LTDthirdparty · UK
INOV INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIA DE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES INOVACAOparticipant · PT

How to reach the team

University of Greenwich (UK) — coordinator. Contact details can be found via the university's research office or the project website.

Order a report on this consortium See UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want an introduction to the EUNOMIA team to explore integration or licensing? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the right technical contact in the consortium.

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