Monthly Archives: February 2026

Eighth review of Digital contention in a divided society published in Estudios Irlandeses

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The eighth review of Digital Contention in a Divided Society has been published in Estudios Irlandeses . Sarah Ritt (University of Vienna) provides a very comprehensive reflection on the book’s key themes. Some quotes from the review are below:

“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

Interviewed about AI misinformation in Scottish elections

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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.

It can be read in full here.