Boston University Questrom School of Business and Boston University Computer and Data Science Professors Receive Prestigious $550,000 National Science Foundation Research Grant

The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced a team of four professors, two from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University, and two Computer and Data Science professors, as recipients of a prestigious $550,000 National Science Foundation Research Grant.

Boston University Questrom School of Business announced that it has received a three-year grant of $550,000 from the National Science Foundation to research and discover technology-aided social structures that minimize the adverse impact of confusion about facts while promoting free speech.

Leading the research team is Marshall Van Alstyne, Questrom Professor in Management, Professor, Information Systems, in collaboration with Nina Mazar, Questrom Professor of Marketing, Ran Canetti, Boston University Professor of Computer Science and the director of the center for Reliable Information System and Cyber Security. and Mayank Varia, Boston University Co-Director, Center for Reliable Information Systems & Cyber Security and Associate Professor, Computing and Data Sciences.

The scope of the research is to examine the issue of free speech vs. facts.

Specifically: Societies function poorly without free speech. They also function poorly when members cannot agree on basic facts. This research seeks to discover technology-aided social structures that minimize the adverse impact of confusion about facts while promoting free speech. To accomplish these goals, the project:

• Develops, prototypes, and tests market mechanisms to dissuade sources of information from dissembling, to decentralize detection of false claims, and to change the incentive structure under which producing false claims is cheaper than producing honest news.
• Seeks to decentralize governance so that no single party, neither a government nor a private firm, has content moderation authority.
• Provides a principled basis for updating Internet and media law concerning platform liability exemptions for user-generated content.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

About the Boston University Questrom School of Business

Founded in 1913, the Boston University Questrom School of Business is a global top-tier academic research business school. Led by Allen Questrom Professor and Dean, Susan Fournier, Questrom develops business leaders who create value for the world. Questrom redefines transformational business programs, strengthens partnerships with the business community, advances the impact of research on business, and manages the school as a high-performing enterprise committed to excellence with a service mindset. Comprising a renowned full-time faculty of 165 researchers, teaching faculty, and accomplished practitioners, Questrom generates insights to address today’s business challenges and prepares students with the tools they need to succeed from Day 1 in their professional lives. Questrom’s portfolio of academic programs is robust and includes a Top 20 undergraduate program of over 2,200 students; distinctive MBA offerings including 900 students in a full- and part-time MBA, the affordable Online MBA and specialty MBAs in social impact, health, and digital technology; several thriving specialized masters programs in areas including business analytics, mathematical finance, and management studies; and a rigorous PhD program. More than 50,000 Questrom alumni form a powerful global network of leaders driving value creation that changes the world.

QUESTROM MEANS BUSINESS. For more information, visit bu.edu/Questrom

About the National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 "to promote the progress of science; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense..." NSF is vital because we support basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.

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