Profile

Philip N. Howard is a statutory Professor of Internet Studies at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. Howard investigates the impact of digital media on political life around the world, and he is a frequent commentator on global media and political affairs. Howard’s research has demonstrated how new information technologies are used in both civic engagement and social control in countries around the world. His projects on digital activism, computational propaganda, and modern governance have been supported by the European Research Council, National Science Foundation, US Institutes of Peace, and Intel’s People and Practices Group.

He has published nine books and over 140 academic articles, book chapters, conference papers, and commentary essays on information technology, international affairs and public life. His articles examine the role of new information and communication technologies in politics and social development, and he has published in peer review journals such as the American Behavioral Scientist, the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and The Journal of Communication. His first book on information technology and elections in the United States is called New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006). It is one of the few books to ever win simultaneous “best book” prizes from the professional associations of multiple disciplines, with awards from the American Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, and the International Communication Association. His authored books include The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010), Castells and the Media (London, UK: Polity, 2011), Democracy’s Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2012, with Muzammil Hussain), and Pax Technica: How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2015). He has edited Society Online: The Internet in Context (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004, with Steve Jones), the Handbook of Internet Politics (London, UK: Routledge, 2008, with Andrew Chadwick), State Power 2.0: Authoritarian Entrenchment and Political Engagement Worldwide (Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013, with Muzammil Hussain) and Computational Propaganda: Political Parties, Politicians and Manipulation on Social Media (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018, with Samuel Woolley).

Howard has had senior teaching, research, and administrative appointments at universities around the world. He has been on the teaching faculty at the Central European University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, the University of Oslo, and the University of Washington. He has had fellowship appointments at the Pew Internet & American Life Project in Washington D.C., the Stanhope Centre for Communications Policy Research at the London School of Economics, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. From 2013-15 he helped design and launch a new School of Public Policy at Central European University in Budapest, where he was the school’s first Founding Professor and Director of the Center for Media, Data and Society.  He currently serves as Director of the Oxford Internet Institute at Oxford University, the leading center of research and teaching on technology and society.

Howard’s research and commentary writing has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many international media outlets. He was awarded the National Democratic Institute’s 2018 “Democracy Prize” and Foreign Policy magazine named him a “Global Thinker” for pioneering the social science of fake news production.

His B.A. is in political science from Innis College at the University of Toronto, his M.Sc. is in economics from the London School of Economics, and his Ph.D. is in sociology from Northwestern University. His website is philhoward.org, and he tweets from @pnhoward.

Research interests

Science and technology studies, internet, society, politics

Positions held at the OII

  • Professor of Internet Studies, July 2016 –
  • Director, March 2018 – March 2021
  • Senior Research Fellow, January 2016 – June 2016

Research

Current projects

  • 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.

  • Oxford Martin Programme on Misinformation, Science and Media

    Participants: Professor Phil Howard, Professor Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Dr J. Scott Brennen

    In this three-year programme researchers will examine the interplay between systematic misinformation campaigns, news coverage, and increasingly important social media platforms for public understanding of science and technological innovation.

  • Computational Propaganda

    Participants: Professor Philip Howard, Dr Vidya Narayanan, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Samantha Bradshaw

    This project will focus on how bots, algorithms and other forms of automation are used by political actors in countries around the world.

  • Political Communication, AI and Data Diversity in the US

    Participants: Dr Victoria Nash, Professor Philip N. Howard, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Dr Vidya Narayanan

    This project investigates contemporary trends in political communication, political polarization, artificial intelligence, and data diversity in the United States.

  • Strengthening Digital Democracy

    Participants: Dr Victoria Nash, Professor Philip N. Howard, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou, Lisa-Maria Neudert, Dr Vidya Narayanan

    This programme supports research into the use of computational propaganda in developing democracies, our management of strategic relations with industry, government and civil society stakeholders, and capacity transfer to civil society groups.

Past projects

  • Restoring Trust in Social Media Civic Engagement

    Participants: Professor Philip Howard, Dr Dimitra (Mimie) Liotsiou

    This Proof of Concept project will allow researchers to produce an online tool that allows the public to evaluate suspicious social media accounts.

Books

  • Howard, P.N. (2020) Lie Machines How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives. Yale University Press.
  • Woolley, S.C. and Howard, P.N. (2019) Computational Propaganda Political Parties, Politicians, and Political Manipulation on Social Media. Oxford University Press, USA.
  • Howard, P.N. (2015) Pax Technica How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up. Yale University Press.
  • Various (2013) State Power 2.0: Digital Networks and Authoritarian Rule. London: Ashgate.
  • Howard, P.N. (2013) Castells and the Media Theory and Media. John Wiley & Sons.
  • Howard, P.N. and Hussain, M.M. (2013) Democracy's Fourth Wave? Digital Media and the Arab Spring. Oxford University Press on Demand.
  • Howard, P.N. (2010) The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy Information Technology and Political Islam. Oxford University Press.
  • Chadwick, A. and Howard, P.N. (2008) Routledge Handbook of Internet Politics. Routledge.
  • Howard, P.N. (2006) New Media Campaigns and the Managed Citizen. Cambridge University Press.
  • Howard, P.N. and Jones, S. (2003) Society Online The Internet in Context. SAGE Publications.

Chapters

  • Howard, P. "Political parties online" In: The Digital Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Information Technology and Political Islam. OUP.

Journal articles

Reports

  • NIELSEN, R., FLETCHER, R., Newman, N., BRENNEN, J. and HOWARD, P. (2020) Navigating the ‘Infodemic’: How People in Six Countries Access and Rate News and Information about Coronavirus. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
  • HOWARD, P., GANESH, B., LIOTSIOU, D., Kelly, J. and François, C. (2018) The IRA, Social Media and Political Polarization in the United States, 2012-2018Project on Computational Propaganda. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P., Kollanyi, B., Bradshaw, S. and Neudert, L. (2017) "Social Media, News and Political Information during the US Election: Was Polarizing Content Concentrated in Swing States?" In: COMPROP data memo 2017.8. Oxford: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P., Kollanyi, B. and Neudert, L. (2017) "Junk News and Bots during the German Parliamentary Election: What are German Voters Sharing over Twitter?" In: COMPROP 2017.7. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Bradshaw, S. and Howard, P. (2017) "Troops, Trolls and Troublemakers: A Global Inventory of Organized Social Media Manipulation" In: Computational Propaganda Research Project. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • McKelvey, F. and Dubois, E. (2017) Computational Propaganda in Canada: The Use of Political BotsComputational Propaganda Worldwide. Oxford, UK: Computational Propaganda Research Project.
  • Arnaudo, D. (2017) "Computational Propaganda in Brazil: Social Bots During Elections" In: Computational Propaganda Research ProjectComputational Propaganda Research Project. Oxford, UK: Computational Propaganda Research Project.
  • Gorwa, R. (2017) "Computational Propaganda in Poland: False Amplifiers and the Digital Public Sphere" In: omputational Propaganda Research Project Howard, P. and Woolley, S. (eds.). Oxford, UK: Computational Propaganda Research Project.
  • Sanovich, S. (2017) Computational Propaganda in Russia: The Origins of Digital MisinformationComputational Propaganda Worldwide. Oxford, UK: Computational Propaganda Research Project.
  • Bolsover, G. (2017) Computational Propaganda in China: An Alternative Model of a Widespread PracticeComputational Propaganda Worldwide. Oxford, UK: Computational Propaganda Research Project.
  • Woolley, S. and Guilbeault, D. (2017) Computational Propaganda in the United States of America: Manufacturing Consensus OnlineComputational Propaganda Worldwide. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P. and Woolley, S. (2017) Computational Propaganda Worldwide: Executive Summary. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P., Kollanyi, B. and Woolley, S.C. (2016) "Bots and Automation over Twitter during the Third U.S. Presidential Debate" In: Bots and Automation over Twitter during the Third U.S. Presidential Debate: COMPROP data memo 2016.3. Oxford, UK: Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P., Kollanyi, B. and Woolley, S.C. (2016) "“Bots and Automation over Twitter during the Second U.S. Presidential Debate: COMPROP data memo 2016.2"" In: “Bots and Automation over Twitter during the Second U.S. Presidential Debate: COMPROP data memo 2016.2". EU COMPROP project.
  • Howard, P., Kollanyi, B. and Woolley, S.C. (2016) "“Bots and Automation over Twitter during the First U.S. Presidential Debate: COMPROP Data Memo 2016.1"" In: “Bots and Automation over Twitter during the First U.S. Presidential Debate: COMPROP Data Memo 2016.1". EU COMPROP project.
  • Howard, P., Shorey, S., Woolley, S.C. and Guo, M. (2016) "“Creativity and Critique: Gap Analysis of Support for Critical Research on Big Data"" In: “Creativity and Critique: Gap Analysis of Support for Critical Research on Big Data". Project on Computational Propaganda.
  • Howard, P. and Kollanyi, B. (2016) "Bots, #Strongerin, and #Brexit: Computational Propaganda During the UK-EU Referendum" In: COMPROP Research Notes. Political Bots.
  • Howard, P., Forelle, M.C., Monroy-Hernandez, A. and Savage, S. (2015) "Political Bots and the Manipulation of Public Opinion in Venezuela" In: Political bots and the manipulation of public opinion in Venezuela. Elsevier BV.

Other

  • BRENNEN, J., SIMON, F., HOWARD, P. and NIELSEN, R. (2020) Types, Sources, and Claims of COVID-19 Misinformation. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
  • BRENNEN, J., SCHULZ, A., HOWARD, P. and NIELSEN, R. (2019) Industry, Experts, or Industry Experts? Academic Sourcing in News Coverage of AI. Oxford: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
  • Howard, P., Bradshaw, S., Kollanyi, B., Desigaud, C. and Bolsover, G. Junk News and Bots during the French Presidential Election: What Are French Voters Sharing Over Twitter?.
  • Howard, P., Bolsover, G., Kollanyi, B., Bradshaw, S. and Neudert, L. Junk News and Bots during the U.S. Election: What Were Michigan Voters Sharing Over Twitter?.

Working papers

  • LIOTSIOU, D., Kollanyi, B. and HOWARD, P.N. (2019) The Junk News Aggregator: Examining junk news posted on Facebook, starting with the 2018 US Midterm Elections. arXiv.

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Integrity Statement

In the past five years my work has been financially supported by UK taxpayers, the European Research Council, Ford Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, and the Omidyar Network.

As part of my science communication and policy outreach, I have served in an unpaid advisory capacity to the European Commission, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), UK House of Commons, UK House of Lords, and US Senate.