Hacking4Humanity in Harrisburg

Hacking4Humanity Winners in Harrisburg

The winners of this year's Hacking4Humanity were invited to the Pennsylvania Governor's residence in Harrisburg where they presented their projects to members of the governor's staff, and First Lady, Lori Shapiro, on March 22nd, 2024.

Hacking4Humanity is a multidisciplinary hackathon to develop new tech and policy solutions that mitigate online hate and create safer communities with tech and policy tracks. Area university students gathered on Friday, February 16th at Duquesne University to present their projects amongst their peers and a panel of judges (video here). Winners were comprised of Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University students.

2024 Hacking4Humanity Winners:

Policy Track Grand Prize Winner: Myles Cramer, University of Pittsburgh, "Protecting Youth from Hateful Conduct & Sexual Harassment Online"

Policy Track Runner Up Prize Winner: Rachael Harris, Carnegie Mellon University, "Tackling Hate Speech on “X” with Hate Speech"

Tech Track Grand Prize Winner: Rory McCann, Chase Lahner, Ivan Puri, Holden Gent, University of Pittsburgh, "HateBot"

Tech Track Runner Up Prize Winner: Alex McElravy, Emily Brozeski, and Tessa Datte, Duquesne University, "Tone Tagged Commenting"

Tech Track Honorable Mention: Paul Doherty, Sam Houpt, and Ryan Bloch, University of Pittsburgh, "HateBlocker"

Students presented their winning projects and fielded questions from staff members to further support the efforts of creating real world solutions. This opportunity was a great experience for students to present their projects addressing the issues of online hate that have swelled into many aspects of our lives. While the thought of tackling online hate is overwhelming, these students presented practical solutions that can be implemented to protect and prevent people from hateful content. The students left with further insight and suggestions to continue their research in this space for real world applications.

The Collaboratory Against Hate co-partnered with groups from Duquesne University, the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University to support this year's event.

Planning for Hacking4Humanity 2025 has begun and registration will be open in October! More information can be found here.