Hannah Bailey studied for an MSc in the Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute. Research interests include China-US relations and China’s use of online censorship, with a focus on automated content analysis.
Hannah Bailey
DPhil Student
Profile
Hannah Bailey is a student on the DPhil in Social Data Science, and was previously a student on the MSc in Social Science of the Internet.
Hannah is a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute and a researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project. Her research focuses on China’s use of state-sponsored digital disinformation. In particular, she focusses on the effect of China’s digital disinformation campaigns on international audiences by assessing how they interact with this disinformation. She employs both quantitative text analysis and social network analysis to explore, for example, China’s use of bots and the ways that external audiences engage with these bots. She holds a BSc in Politics and Philosophy from the London School of Economics, as well as two MScs, in Contemporary Chinese Studies, and in the Social Science of the Internet, both from Oxford University. She has also studied Mandarin at Fudan University (Shanghai). Her DPhil is generously funded by the Oxford Internet Institute’s Shirley Scholarship.
Research
Past projects
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Alternative News Networks – Understanding the spread and influence of disinformation, propaganda, and divisive political news content in the UK online information ecosystem
Participants: Dr Jonathan Bright, Professor Philip Howard, Dr Scott Hale, Hannah Bailey, Mona Elswah, Megha Mishra, Dr Vidya Narayanan, Marcel Schliebs, Christian Schwieter, Katarina Rebello, Ali Arsalan Pasha Siddiqui, Karolina Werens, Alexandra Pavliuc, Anna George
This project seeks to understand the health of the UK online information ecosystem, including tracking the spread of divisive and misleading content.
News
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New study finds coordinated amplification network promoting tweets by China’s diplomats in the UK
11 May 2021
A new study by researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford uncovers a coordinated amplification network promoting the Twitter accounts of PRC diplomats based in the United Kingdom.
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New study finds Chinese actors using social media networks to influence foreign public opinion
11 May 2021
A new study by researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford uncovers a coordinated amplification network promoting the Twitter accounts of PRC diplomats based in the United Kingdom.
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Social media manipulation by political actors now an industrial scale problem prevalent in over 80 countries – annual Oxford report
13 January 2021
The manipulation of public opinion through social media remains a growing threat to democracies around the world, according to the 2020 media manipulation survey from the Oxford Internet Institute, part of the University of Oxford.
Press
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China invents Swiss expert for Wuhan lab propaganda
12 August 2021 The Times
China’s state media have been accused of spreading fake news and attempting to discredit the World Health Organisation after quoting a Swiss biologist who does not appear to exist.
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Growing online ‘influence-for-hire’ economy opens door for foreign interference: report
10 August 2021 Sydney Morning Herald
“What’s up with the BBC?” In November 2020, this hashtag – #AdaApaDenganBBC – began trending on Twitter in Indonesia. What may have seemed like an organic social media campaign was, in fact, a highly organised effort by vested interests.
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ENTER THE MATRIX Inside China’s chilling network of AI generated PEOPLE on Facebook & Twitter spreading anti-vaxx lies & Covid fake news
5 August 2021 The Sun
Inside China’s chilling network of AI generated PEOPLE on Facebook & Twitter spreading anti-vaxx lies & Covid fake news
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Disinformation for Hire, a Shadow Industry, Is Quietly Booming
21 July 2021 New York Times
Back-alley firms meddle in elections and promote falsehoods on behalf of clients who can claim deniability.
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China state TV channel CGTN enlists UK student influencers
16 June 2021 The Times
China’s state TV station has been targeting British university campuses and offering students the chance to win thousands of pounds by becoming pro-Beijing social media influencers, The Times can reveal.
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‘Milk Tea Alliance’ brews democracy online among young activists across Asia
7 April 2021 NBC News
From Myanmar to Hong Kong, young people are clashing with increasingly authoritarian regimes and taking their struggles online around a unifying and popular regional drink.
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Pressure and propaganda – the reality of reporting Xinjiang
31 January 2021 Modern Ghana
In addition to the heavy restrictions it places on foreign journalists trying to report the truth about its far western region of Xinjiang, China has a new tactic: labelling independent coverage as "fake news".
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China’s pressure and propaganda – the reality of reporting Xinjiang
15 January 2021 BBC News
In addition to the heavy restrictions it places on foreign journalists trying to report the truth about its far western region of Xinjiang, China has a new tactic: labelling independent coverage as "fake news".
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Trump’s Twitter ban obscures the real problem: state-backed manipulation is rampant on social media
13 January 2021 The Conversation
Donald Trump’s controversial removal from social media platforms has reignited debate around the censorship of information published online.
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Beijing funds British YouTubers to further its propaganda war
9 January 2021 The Times
The Chinese government is funding British YouTube stars to produce pro-China propaganda videos, an investigation by The Times can reveal.
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Google takes down smartphone service targeting Chinese apps
2 June 2020 The Financial Times
Google intervened on Tuesday after millions of Indians rushed to download Remove China Apps that promised to help them rid their smartphones of Chinese apps.