On Saturday (10 August) I was
On Saturday I spoke to Andrew Peach on LBC News about the number of arrests linked to the use of social media to incite violence during the UK riots. We discussed issues like Twitter owner Elon Musk’s amplification of conspiracy theories and what platforms can do to remove harmful content.
The interview can be listened to here
Thanks to Andrew, Elliot, and David for the invitation.
On Wednesday I spoke to Hamish Morrison from The National about the list of far-right protests in Scotland circulated on social media. We discussed how far-right groups used apps like Telegram to organise, the threat of misinformation during the recent riots in England, and how best to respond to false information circulating online.
Thanks to Hamish and Charlotte Morris for the invitation. The article can be read here.
On Monday I was interviewed by Orla Barry for a segment on international public radio news show The World. We discussed the likelihood of sanctions being applied by the UK government to social media platforms who amplified misinformation during the ongoing civil unrest.
Many thanks to Orla for the invitation. The segment can be listened to here.
Last night I appeared on BBC Scotland’s The Nine to discuss the role of social media in the ongoing UK riots. I discussed the difficulty of removing hate speech and misinformation from platforms that are not considered publishers.
Many thanks to Charlotte Morris, Ben Russell and the team on The Nine for arranging the interview.
The interview can be viewed here (it begins at 24:30).
Yesterday I spoke to Sebastian Seibt from France 24 about the role of social media in the riots seen in English towns and cities over the past week.
We discussed the role of public figures, journalists and influencers in amplifying misinformation that contributed to the violence. I suggested that it was too early to tell whether Russian disinformation agents had played a key role in the spread of false information about the Southport attacker.
Many thanks to Sebastian for the invitation.
The article can be read (in French) here.
On Saturday I spoke to Andrew Peach on LBC News about the role of social media during the riots in Southport, London, Hartlepool and Sunderland over the past week. We discussed issues like the role of conspiracy theories and misinformation in inflaming tensions, and whether platforms can do more to remove harmful content.
The interview can be listened to here
Thanks to Andrew, Elliot, Charlotte and Rachel for the invitation.
I have a new article out in the Conversation UK today.
In this piece, I analyse the role of social media misinformation in the Southport riots earlier this week. I explore how online platforms circulated false information alleging the attacker was Muslim, a migrant and a refugee.
I argue that while social media helped amplify tensions, their role should not be overblown. Politicians must also take some responsibility for their role in creating a toxic discourse surrounding immigration.
Many thanks to Avery Anapol for the invitation to write this piece.
The article can be read here
I have an article in a new publication on the 2024 UK General Election edited by Dan Jackson, Julie Firestone, Emily Harmer, Einar Thorsen, Darren Lilleker, Katy Parry and Scott Wright. This rapid response report features 101 contributions from 130 UK and international academics .
Many thanks to the editors for the invitation to participate and all their hard work in producing this comprehensive report.
My article explores the Facebook ads paid for by the parties in Northern Ireland. I analyse who spent the most, who were the most prominent politicians, and the rhetoric deployed in these ads.
The article can be accessed here.
The full report is available to download from here
Yesterday I participated in a segment on BBC Radio Ulster Talkback about the misinformation and the 2024 UK General Election. Presented by William Crawley, I joined Claire Graham and Orna Young and to discuss how best to identify misinformation circulated via online platforms, how easy it is to do so, and the potential use of deepfake technologies to alter speeches made by politicians.
You can listen to the segment below
Many thanks to William, Kerry, Zahra and the Talkback team for the invitation to participate.
Yesterday I was interviewed by Alys Davies for a BBC News article on the All Eyes on Rafah image that has been heavily shared on Instagram over the past few days. I argued that the AI-generated image went ‘viral’ due to the fact it did not show graphic images of the victims of the Israeli attack, and its amplification by celebrities. However, activists and journalists on the ground might feel aggrieved at this ‘sanitised’ version of the attacks that left 45 dead and many more injured. Thanks to Alys for the invitation to speak about this issue.
The article can be read in full here
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