Network Contagion Research Institute

The Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) is an American advocacy organization focusing on hate groups, disinformation, misinformation, and speech across social media platforms.^[2][3]

Network Contagion Research Institute

Abbreviation	NCRI
Formation	2018; 7 years ago (2018)
Founder	Joel Finkelstein
Type	Nonprofit research institute
Tax ID no.	82-3649399 (EIN)[1]
Legal status	501(c)(3) organization
Headquarters	Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Affiliations	Rutgers University
Revenue	$1.45 million (2023)
Expenses	$1.6 million (2023)
Website	networkcontagion.us

History

The NCRI was founded in 2018 as a nonprofit organization by psychologist and neuroscientist Joel Finkelstein.^[4] Examples of NCRI's publications include reports on QAnon supporters,^[5] militia/boogaloo movements,^[4][6] anarcho-socialist networks,^[7] antisemitism,^[8] racial supremacism, and other topics related to xenophobia.^[9][10] The institute has also published articles on the dissemination of disinformation and bias from state actors, including Iran,^[11] Russia,^[12] and China.^[13]

Other research areas include the study and prevention of sextortion,^[14] child sexual abuse,^[15] and the negative consequences of DEI programs, such as workplace hostility and racial bias.^[16]

Concerns

Media scholar Jack Bratich has criticized the NCRI for a lack of neutrality, accusing it of being used to target domestic dissenters labelled as threats.^[17] In 2021, the NCRI was criticized by Matthew Lyons of the anti-fascist project Three Way Fight for equating undesirable political views on the left and right, particularly in the wake of the George Floyd protests and for allegedly aligning with state security interests.^[18]

Disruption Network Institute found corporate records and tax filings showing that the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) paid the NCRI $335,000 in 2021.^[19]

In a public lecture on May 13, 2022, Hetz CEO Eran Teboul stated that the organization has privately raised funds for NCRI, during an event hosted by the Norwegian nonprofit Med Israel for fred (MIFF).^[20]

See also

• Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
• Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)
• International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT)
• Charles Koch Foundation (CKF)
• Open Society Foundations (OSF)