The Brandeis Institute unveiled a new report documenting and analyzing the emergence of a distinct sector of startups aimed at tackling digital manipulation and disinformation.
The rapid erosion of trust in institutions, governments, and shared information sources – driven by disinformation, misinformation, and manipulation – is among the defining challenges of our time. While this challenge requires policy and educational responses, it also calls for technological solutions.
This new report documents and analyzes the emergence of “Trust Tech”, a technology sector dedicated to countering online disinformation, misinformation, and manipulation.
The report is the product of Brandeis Institute research team – Dr. Ido Baum, Dr. Dalit Gafni and Dr. Rotem Kadosh-Nussbaum – together with research fellow and founders of Remedy CoLab, Naomy Krieger Carmy and Hod Fleishman.
Drawing on a dataset of 256 Trust Tech startups worldwide, the report defines the emerging sector and assesses its geographic distribution, growth dynamics, and product focus.
The research group found that the sector is concentrated in Western democracies and leading innovation hubs: 46.2% of firms are incorporated in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (10.8%) and Israel (4.5%). Sector development tracks salient political and global events associated with disinformation concerns, including the U.S. elections of 2016 and 2020, the COVID‑19 pandemic, and the rise of generative AI, with growth accelerating rapidly after 2021.
Most firms in the research sample exhibit the characteristics of a nascent, early‑stage industry.
In terms of solutions, firms span multiple domains, reflecting limited specialization in an emerging field. Trust Tech companies primarily target detection (69.8%) and protection (83.1%), with fewer focusing on literacy (29.8%) and active mitigation/response (19.2%).
The report states that recognizing Trust Tech as a distinct sector is essential to accelerate its development and to guide policy, investment, and research.
Access the full report here.