This morning I was interviewed by Toby Foster on BBC Radio Sheffield about the misinformation and disinformation about COVID-19 circulating on social media. We talked about how we as citizens should respond to false and misleading information online and how governments and social media companies might take stronger action to address it.
Many thanks to Toby, Katie and Robert at BBC Radio Sheffield for their help with this- enjoyed it!
The interview can be listened to here
This morning I did a couple of radio interviews about US celebrities joining the Stop Hate for Profit boycott of Facebook and Instagram in order to force them to take stronger action against hate speech and disinformation. On BBC Good Morning Ulster, Naomh McElhatton and I discussed whether these boycotts were an effective way to raise awareness of this issue. The segment can be listened to here
On The Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Foyle, I spoke to Anna Curran about the issues raised by this campaign and how we can better regulate hate speech and disinformation. This interview can be listed to here
Thanks to Anne Jordan and Dean McLaughlin for the invitation.
This morning I was interviewed by Elliot Webb on BBC Hereford & Worcester’s Breakfast show. We discussed the impact of Russian disinformation campaigns on social mediaand whether the UK government needs to do more to regulate online platforms in light of the findings from the Russia report.
Many thanks to Elliot, Toni and the team. The interview can be listened to here
Delighted to receive my copy of Disinformation and Digital Media as a challenge for Democracy this morning. My chapter ‘Digital Disinformation in a deeply divided society: reflections from Northern Ireland” draws on myresearch over two decades on how digital media is used to frame contentious politics in Northern Ireland. I argue that digital disinformation around contentious episodes are likely to thrive due to the failure of political elites to address conflict-legacy issues. I argue that the current genre of information disorders have much in common with the propaganda deployed by both elite and non-elite actors during the conflict.
The book can be purchased here.
Many thanks to Georgios Terzis, Dariusz Kloza, Elzbieta Kuzelewska, Daniel Trottier for editing this excellent contribution to an important field.
Delighted to be back in Leicester today for an ‘in conversation’ with John Coster as part of the Documentary Media Centre’s Reportage Club. We will discuss my ongoing work on digital media and political polarisation in Northern Ireland, in which I will draw on my work on information disorder and contentious parades and protests in the deeply divided society. Our session will kick off at 6.30pm in the DMM pop-up in Highcross (the unit opposite Costa Coffee on Shires Lane).
Thanks to John for the invite and also for sharing this reminder of my last appearance at the DMC- over 4 years ago!
I was recently interviewed for an article in Newsweek that discussed recent research suggesting that people who held delusional views were more likely to believe false news stories shared on social media. Thanks to Kashmira Gander and Hannah Postles for their help with this.
The article can be accessed here
This weekend I will be attending Locked out of Social Platforms: An ICS Symposium on Challenges to Studying Disinformation, at the IT University in Copenhagen, Denmark. Keynote speakers include Axel Bruns, Alice Marwick, Linda Dencik and Katrin Weller.
I will be presenting a paper entitled ‘Information Disorder in a deeply divided society: social media and contentious politics in Northern Ireland.’ It explores the continuities between the ‘propaganda war’ during the Troubles and the ways in which mis and disinformation circulates today through social media platforms. I will also discuss the media diets of citizens in the deeply divided society in order to explore resilience towards types of information disorder.
The programme for the symposium (which looks great!) can be found here
I have published a piece on Democratic Audit UK that explores efforts to tackle mis-and disinformation in Northern Ireland. In the article, I explore whether the contextual factors associated with information disorder, such as declining trust in media and political institutions, are present in the ‘post-conflict’ society. Drawing on my research on the 2014 and 2015 Ardoyne parade disputes, and my recent submission to the UK DCMS Fake News inquiry, I explore several examples of how journalists have debunked rumours and disinformation spread on social media about contentious parades and protests. I argue that the survival of an independent and free press within Northern Ireland is a pre-requisite for reducing the pollution of its information ecosystem.
The article can be accessed here
I have published an essay on the New Social Science, New Social Science? blog, which focuses on my work on how Twitter was used during the 2014 and 2015 Ardoyne parade disputes. Thanks to Franziska Marcheselli and the NSMNSS team for all their help with this. The post can be accessed here
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