Data forensics company The Nerve has announced the launch of the Information Integrity Initiative to combat disinformation and protect information integrity. It will be led by Professor Julie Posetti, with extensive journalism experience. The initiative's first report highlights rising violence against women in digital spaces.
In Manila, Philippines, The Nerve, a data forensics company co-founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa, has launched the Information Integrity Initiative (III). The project focuses on action-oriented research, policy work, and product development at the intersection of disinformation, freedom of expression, gender, and public interest media.
Professor Julie Posetti, formerly at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism and current chair of the Centre for Journalism and Democracy at City St. George’s, University of London, will lead the initiative. Posetti brings over 20 years of international journalism experience and has been at the forefront of studying threats to investigative journalism in the digital age. “What better place to step up the fight to secure information integrity than inside an organization rooted in data analysis and founded by a Nobel Peace Prize winner who literally wrote the book on How to Stand Up to a Dictator?” Posetti said.
The initiative’s first major release, titled “Tipping Point: The chilling escalation of violence against women in the public sphere,” reveals alarming statistics: 70% of surveyed women have experienced online violence in their work, with 41% reporting offline harm linked to it. The share of journalists and media workers facing such online violence and associated offline abuse has more than doubled—from 20% in 2020 to 42% in 2025.
Posetti and The Nerve have previously collaborated on big data investigations, including analysis of online violence against Maria Ressa and targeted attacks on women journalists at South Africa’s Daily Maverick. “The mission is clear, the methods are robust, and the trust runs deep in both directions,” Posetti added.
Joining the initiative are Nabeelah Shabbir as deputy director, an award-winning journalist from The Guardian, and Kaylee Williams as senior researcher, a PhD candidate at Columbia Journalism School focusing on technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
Ressa stated: “The struggle for information integrity is the mother of all battles, and it’s a fight that demands radical collaboration.” The Nerve, rooted in the Philippines, has expanded to Kenya, Moldova, Brazil, the US, and the UK to map information ecosystems and counter disinformation networks.
