https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/01/190115121106.htm

Computer science and communication researchers affiliated with the university's Center for Information Technology & Society traveled to three countries to assess the challenges minority groups face in maintaining a secure, trustworthy social media presence. Based on the communities' feedback, the team designed an app for the Android operating system that would safeguard group members' anonymity as well as verify the reliability of posts coming from the group. A paper detailing the technology appeared in the Journal of Internet Services and Applications.

The team, led by computer science professor Elizabeth Belding, traveled to Mongolia, Zambia and Turkey, where colleagues at local institutions connected them with members of marginalized communities. At the time, these countries offered a relatively safe alternative to other nations with restricted speech, like Russia, China and Egypt. About two weeks after the group visited Turkey, however, an attempted coup d'état prompted the government to clamp down on political dissidence.