On Wednesday I was an invited contributor to a panel organised by The Ferret. Entitled AI, misinformation and the Scottish election, the focus was on how best to respond to mis-and disinformation in Scotland.
Ali Brian (The Ferret), Digdem Soyaltin Colella (University of Aberdeen) and I discussed a variety of topics, including how bad actors use AI-images to pollute political discourse online, the vectors of misinformation in contemporary Scotland, and how we can rebuild trust in democratic institutions.
Many thanks to Susannah Fitzgerald for charing, Jamie Mann for the invitation, and our audience for their thought-provoking questions. The session can viewed below.
Please do consider supporting The Ferret, who are doing some fantastic in-depth investigative journalism in Scotland. Full details about how to subscribe can be found here.
Yesterday I delivered a seminar at the University of Copenhagen. Entitled ‘Digital contention in divided societies: how online platforms hinder peacebuilding’, I gave an overview of the type of intergroup contact facilitated by social media to date. Drawing on key findings from my book Digital Contention in a Divided Society, I argued that online platforms are not shared spaces in which positive peace is likely to emerge. Despite the cyberoptimism of projects like Peace on Facebook, they are neither benign nor a force for world peace. Indeed, the hate speech, mis-and disinformation amplified by their sites reinforces negative stereotypes of outgroups which make reconciliation between former antagonists much harder.
Big thanks to Jun Liu for the invite, Dechun for his talk, and to the audience for their contributions. The slides from my presentation can be viewed below.
A few weeks ago I spoke to Motaz Amer about the UK Home Office posting deportation videos on their TikTok account.
We discussed how these videos frame enforcement as entertainment, the ways in which this content further inflames divisions on issues like immigration, and whether government social media accounts should be used for such campaigning.
My contribution is below:
Dr Paul Reilly, Senior Lecturer in Communications, Media, and Democracy at the University of Glasgow, has suggested there is little evidence that such content will significantly change minds. Those who favour stricter border controls are unlikely to need persuading and those opposed to raids and deportations are unlikely to be swayed by viral clips.
He added, while social media may not change entrenched views, what it can amplify strong reactions. Platforms reward outrage and affirmation rather than thoughtful debate. In that environment, migration risks becoming reduced to imagery and slogans instead of evidence and policy.
It also features commentary from my Glasgow University colleague Catriona Forrest and the Scottish Refugee Council.
Thanks to Motaz for the interview. The article, published in both the Glasgow Guardian and Bylines Scotland, can be viewed here.
Yesterday I delivered a guest lecture on the Media and Politics undergraduate course run by the University of Edinburgh.
I discussed the mediated nature of flag protests, with a specific focus on my work on the 2013 union flag protests in Northern Ireland, the connective actions of far right movements and the recent anti-immigration protests in the UK. A synopsis of the session is below:
We also discussed the role of media (both legacy and digital) and discourse elites in mainstreaming far right policies around issues like immigration. Relevant concepts such as the illiberal public sphere were introduced to explain what the implications of these trends might be for democratic institutions.
Big thanks to Professor Kate Wright (Edinburgh) for the invitation and to the students for their contributions during the class. A copy of the slides can be found below.
This week my colleague Catherine Happer and I were interviewed about the normalisation of abuse against journalists in Scotland. The article, published in The National, explored how politicians delegitmise the media and dismiss critical coverage as ‘fake news’. There have even been recent incidents of political aides grabbing journalists mid-question. This abuse of journalists is particularly ominous as we enter the final stages of the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.
A few of my quotes from the article are below:
“It feels as if we are heading in the same direction as the US under Trump,” says Dr Paul Reilly, a Senior Lecturer in Communication, Media and Democracy at the University of Glasgow. “We see UK politicians dismissing critical media coverage as ‘fake news’, trying to avoid legitimate questions from the press by questioning their integrity and motives”
Farage is a case in point, Dr Reilly argues. “Farage has issued statements claiming he was going to boycott the BBC and yet still appears on their programmes,” he says. The contradiction only makes sense if you see the boycott threat as performance: a way to present himself as a victim of a hostile establishment while continuing to use its platforms.
Dr Reilly makes the same point from a different angle. “It certainly reinforces and strengthens existing patterns of distrust in our media and political institutions,” he says.
“It is little wonder that journalists are subjected to abuse and hostility online. Social media users frequently see video footage of political leaders accusing journalists of fabricating stories or trying to smear them – all because they are asking uncomfortable questions or scrutinising the actions and policies of our politicians.”
Dr Reilly cites this evidence, adding: “I would be worried that this trend may result in journalists being threatened, or worse still, attacked by members of the public.”
“This is one of the roots of the information crisis that has seen members of the public become increasingly disillusioned with democracy,” he warns.
Many thanks to Laura Pollock for the interview, which can be read here.
“Online communities are their own little microcosms. Often either overlooked or blamed for everything wrong with today’s society, the online space has only rather recently become a subject of academic study, probably partly because in order to produce telling results, large datasets need to be retrieved, categorized, and analyzed This is exactly what Paul Reilly does in his monograph Digital Contention in a Divided Society“
“In order to root his analysis in the offline world as well, Reilly supplements it with an actors’ analysis of events coverage in main regional newspapers. This keeps his insight from being reduced to the infamous online “bubbles”.”
“Digital Contention in a Divided Society: Social Media, Parades and Protests in Northern Ireland is a valuable resource for those working with social media studies who are looking for a comprehensive and triangulated set of data that has been researched with a great amount of consideration for its social / historical contexts and the quantitative care necessary when working with a fast-changing environment such as social media platforms.”
I am very grateful to Sarah for such a thoughtful review of the book, which can be read in full here
I was interviewed by Jamie Mann (The Ferret) about AI misinformation and the upcoming Scottish Parliament election.
This De-noiser explores the evidence on how AI misinformation has impacted elections to date. From chatbots to deepfakes, there is increasing evidence that bad actors are trying to influence attitudes and voting behaviours.
A few quotes from the article are below:
Dr Paul Reilly, senior lecturer in communications, media and democracy at the University of Glasgow told The Ferret that “there’s a lot of evidence of efforts to subvert or manipulate public discourse”.
This includes the apparent “orchestration of bots” on X designed to “sow confusion and discord”, undermine trust and push people towards a certain position.
“I think there’s a bigger question about amplifying polarisation, and that is often what those behind these campaigns want to happen,” he added.
Reilly said that just 18 months ago, he would have considered the threat of AI-generated media on the democratic process to be an exaggeration. But the number of realistic deepfakes targeting political figures in recent months means it is now “a big concern”.
He said that while there’s not yet evidence that deepfakes can alter voting behaviour on a large scale, “it’s certainly a threat in elections coming”.
Reilly said there’s a lack of focus on AI compared to mis and disinformation, “but it’s part of the same thing”.
He argues that all institutions have responsibility to tackle misleading content, including media outlets who can fact check and debunk claims, and social media companies, which, he argues, “are still not taking their roles seriously enough”.
Many thanks to Jamie for the interview and Charlotte Morris for arranging it.
Last Friday I spoke to Hamish Morrison of The National. We discussed the Trump administration’s use of neo-Nazi references on social media. In the past few weeks, several US agencies have posted content directly referencing white supremacist figures like Willam Gayley Simpson.
I suggested that this was both an attempt to distract from the crises facing the Trump administration and a reflection of the attitudes of those close to the president. Som quotes are below: “It’s not coincidence, it’s not an accident. It is something which is strategic communication and they must see value in that.”
“They’re reflecting back what they see from people who are supportive of,for example, ICE’s activity in Minnesota last week [the killing of Renee Nicole Good] or the Trump administration itself” “It’s choosing not to talk to the entire room, talking to a very small segment of it and that could be very politically damaging for Trump.”
I also discussed how there are contradictory reports about who is posting content on behalf of Trump. It seems that nobody is dialling down his rhetoric. This will have a very negative impact on how the Republicans fare in the midterm elections later this year.
Many thanks to Hamish for the interview, and to Charlotte Morris for arranging it. The article can be read in full here.
Yesterday I gave an invited presentation at an event entitled ‘Memory, Conflict & Peace’. It was organised by the University of Glasgow’s Memory Lab, an interdisciplinary initiative exploring how memories are made, stored and retrieved by individuals.
Featuring a keynote by Prof. Ann Rigney (Utrecht University), the event considered how memory contributes to conflict. It addressed questions such as: How do official narratives sustain nationalism and preparedness for war? In what ways do digital media amplify, reshape, or contest memories of past violence? What can we learn from societies where memory of division remains a site of contestation?
My paper was called Random Access Memories or clichéd representations? How historical photographs of the Troubles are interpreted on Instagram. This was based on my previous article published in the journal Information, Communication & Society,
Yesterday, I delivered a presentation at a symposium. The symposium, Leading Curriculum and Assessment Innovation, was organised by the University of Glasgow’s Teaching Excellence Network.
My presentation was titled ‘ Is a dissertation the best way to assess international students? Developing the MCS Independent Research Project’. I discussed the challenges I faced developing and implementing the IRP over the past few years. These challenges ranged from training staff and students to the workload implications of adopting this new model.
Thanks to Julia, Honor and Errol for organising the symposium, and the other participants for their inspiring contributions.
