Does 'deplatforming' work to curb hate speech and calls for violence? 3 experts in online communications weigh in

Banning extremists from social media platforms can reduce hate speech, but the deplatforming process has to be handled with care – and it can have unintended consequences.

Ugochukwu Etudo, Assistant Professor of Operations and Information Management, University of Connecticut • conversation
Jan. 15, 2021 • ~10 min
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Trump's Twitter ban obscures the real problem: state-backed manipulation is rampant on social media

Social media censorship in the US fails to tackle the rising trend of ‘disinformation-for-hire’ cyber troops.

Hannah Bailey, PhD researcher in Social Data Science, University of Oxford • conversation
Jan. 13, 2021 • ~7 min
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Big Tech's rejection of Parler shuts down a site favored by Trump supporters – and used by participants in the US Capitol insurrection

Millions of supporters of Donald Trump flocked to the far-right social media platform, where hate speech and calls for violence thrive. The US Capitol insurrection could be the platform's undoing.

Alex Newhouse, Research Lead, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies • conversation
Jan. 12, 2021 • ~12 min
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Parler is bringing together mainstream conservatives, anti-Semites and white supremacists as the social media platform attracts millions of Trump supporters

Millions of supporters of Donald Trump have flocked to the far-right social media platform Parler, where heat speech thrives.

Alex Newhouse, Research Lead, Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism, Middlebury Institute of International Studies • conversation
Nov. 27, 2020 • ~11 min
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5 types of misinformation to watch out for while ballots are being counted – and after

Election misinformation typically involves false narratives of fraud that include out-of-context or otherwise misleading images and faulty statistics as purported evidence.

Renee DiResta, Research Manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, Stanford University • conversation
Nov. 6, 2020 • ~11 min
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How tech firms have tried to stop disinformation and voter intimidation – and come up short

The major social media firms have taken a largely piecemeal and fractured approach to managing the problem.

Scott Shackelford, Associate Professor of Business Law and Ethics; Executive Director, Ostrom Workshop; Cybersecurity Program Chair, IU-Bloomington, Indiana University • conversation
Nov. 2, 2020 • ~9 min
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How to be a good digital citizen during the election – and its aftermath

That "friend of a friend" post you're thinking about sharing on social media could make you an unwitting accomplice in a disinformation campaign.

Kolina Koltai, Postdoctoral Researcher of Information Studies, University of Washington • conversation
Oct. 30, 2020 • ~8 min
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In a battle of AI versus AI, researchers are preparing for the coming wave of deepfake propaganda

Fake videos generated with sophisticated AI tools are a looming threat. Researchers are racing to build tools that can detect them, tools that are crucial for journalists to counter disinformation.

Matthew Wright, Professor of Computing Security, Rochester Institute of Technology • conversation
Oct. 9, 2020 • ~8 min
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Faked videos shore up false beliefs about Biden's mental health

It's easy to edit video of public figures to make them appear asleep, confused, drunk or cognitively impaired when they are not. The technique is being used to undermine Joe Biden's campaign.

Dustin Carnahan, Assistant Professor of Communication, Michigan State University • conversation
Sept. 16, 2020 • ~8 min
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The US has lots to lose and little to gain by banning TikTok and WeChat

Banning the Chinese-owned social media platforms raises free speech concerns and could worsen the US-China trade war.

Jeremy Straub, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, North Dakota State University • conversation
Aug. 28, 2020 • ~10 min
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