Aliaksandr is a political communication researcher with a special focus on social data science, media and authoritarianism. He was Director of Research at the Programme on Democracy and Technology at the Oxford Internet Institute and a fellow at the Oxford Martin Programme on Misinformation, Science and Media.
Aliaksandr investigates how political groups and governments use AI and social media to manipulate public opinion. His current research projects focus on pressing emergencies, including the war in Ukraine, the COVID-19 crisis, and climate change. He has designed scientific tools to track and analyse misleading narratives about these emergencies circulating across the global communication environment. He is an editor of the War in Ukraine and Disinformation Newsletter.
Aliaksandr holds a PhD in Communication, degrees in European Studies, Political Science and Computer Science. His PhD dissertation investigated how pro-democracy activists adapted technologies to increase political engagement in authoritarian settings in Belarus and Russia.
He held teaching and research positions at Middlesex University, University College London, University of Portsmouth and University of Westminster. He taught digital methods, political communication, digital activism and communication theories.
Political communication, computational methods, digital media, social movements, political disinformation, messaging platforms.
DemTech investigates the use of algorithms, automation, and computational propaganda in public life.
This project builds on existing data science to understand the extent to which credible public health information is outweighed by false content on social media and measure the effectiveness of public health communication responses in real‐time.
I conduct my research in line with the University's academic integrity code of practice.
19 January 2023
University of Oxford researchers have published new work exploring how health misinformation campaigns are able to operate and succeed online, using infrastructure provided by the world’s leading tech companies.
21 September 2020
YouTube videos with false coronavirus information gathered more shares on social media than the videos of five leading news broadcasters combined.
20 July 2020
New research shows the Telegram instant messaging service, used by 400 million people worldwide, has become a refuge for far-right commentators who have been removed from mainstream social media platforms.
Wired, 20 September 2022
The encrypted messaging app is a haven for politically motivated vitriol, but users are increasingly bringing threats to targets’ doorsteps.
Business Insider, 23 March 2022
Apple has cut business ties with Russia, but its App Store still hosts 45 apps by Yandex, the Russian internet giant that's been accused of censorship about Ukraine.
The Times, 22 March 2022
A university professor has been accused of spreading Russian propaganda about the war in Ukraine after tweeting a link to an article suggesting that the attack on a Mariupol theatre was a false flag operation.
