Vicki Nash is Associate Professor and Senior Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) at the University of Oxford. She was also, from 2021 to 2025, Director of the Institute.
Please note that Vicki is on research leave in 2026 and is not able to host new visitors or undertake any examining during this period.
Drawing on her background as a political theorist, her research centres on the governance challenges of digital technologies, with a particular focus on online safety, content moderation and platform regulation. Recent research has included an analysis of age verification policies as a tool for balancing the interests of children and adults online, and an analysis of the UK Online Safety Act. She holds several digital policy advisory roles, including membership of the UK Government’s multi-stakeholder UK Council on Internet Safety (UKCIS) Evidence Group, and the World Economic Forum’s Digital Safety Coalition. She is frequently called on to give expert evidence in UK and EU policy consultations on broader issues such as platform governance and Internet regulation.
Prior to joining the OII in 2002, Vicki was a Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy Research. She received her D.Phil in Politics from Nuffield College, Oxford University in 1999, having completed an M.Phil in Politics from Magdalen College in 1996, and a BA (Hons) Degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics before this.
Child safety, democracy, ethics, governance, inequality, public policy
This project investigates how digital skills develop in the absence of traditional family support structures and aims to identify any critical and overlooked gaps that emerge.
As global policymakers grapple with the urgent question of how best to safeguard minors in online environments, a new project from the Oxford Programme for Cyber and Technology Policy aims to address these challenges in partnership with BSG.
This project investigates contemporary trends in political communication, political polarization, artificial intelligence, and data diversity in the United States.
In the past five years I have not received any external funding in support of my research, but in 2026 I have three funded research projects beginning, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, the Nuffield Foundation and the ESRC. As part of my science communication and policy outreach responsibilities, over the same period I have served in an unpaid capacity on OfCom’s Making Sense of Media Advisory Panel, on the UK Council on Internet Safety’s Evidence Group, and advisory boards for the Startup Coalition, Internet Matters, and the World Economic Forum’s Digital Safety Coalition. I hold a paid advisory role on the International Strategic Advisory Board of the Interdisciplinary Transformation University in Austria.
With Dr Ekaterina Hertog, Dr Victoria Nash, and Professor Netta Weinstein
This study explores how parental control technologies affect family relationships from the perspective of adolescents aged 16-17 in the UK.
With Dr Ekaterina Hertog and Dr Victoria Nash
How digital technologies impact young children, and new ways to think about the ethical and safety measures that govern their use of technology.
With Dr Victoria Nash
OII Director, Associate Professor and Senior Policy Fellow, Vicki Nash gave the academic perspective, joining a panel of experts to discuss the key theme of generative AI in relation to online safety.
With Dr Ekaterina Hertog and Dr Victoria Nash
We welcome Professor Katya Hertog of the OII for the presentation of her paper on young adult users of Amazon's Alexa programme.
By Alison Powell, Michael Hills, and Victoria Nash
How should we protect children online while protecting freedom of expression? This report discusses the result of a meeting between advocates and offers thoughts on how different advocates with different agendas can work together in building policy.
23 January 2026
Dr Victoria Nash, Associate Professor and Senior Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, researches the governance challenges of digital technologies, with a particular focus on online safety, content moderation and platform regulation.
30 September 2025
The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) has moved to its new home in the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities.
17 July 2024
The Oxford Internet Institute (OII) at the University of Oxford has appointed Dr Mohsen Mosleh to the role of Associate Professor in Social Data Science.
8 July 2024
Dr Victoria Nash will continue as Director of the Oxford Internet Institute until the end of 2025.
You Tube, 12 February 2026
Dr Vicki Nash, Associate Professor and Senior Policy Fellow, Oxford Internet Institute, discusses the evidence for banning social media for under 16s.
Tech Xplore, 23 January 2026
Dr Victoria Nash, senior policy fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, notes that Australia’s under-16 social media ban has strong parental and political backing, but its effectiveness remains an open question.
BBC News, 30 September 2025
A new £185m arts and humanities centre will open in October, it has been announced which will also include academic faculty space, including the Oxford Internet Institute.
DPhil Student
Dylan Thurgood is a third-year DPhil in Social Data Science student and was previously a student on the MSc in Social Data Science. His research focuses on how online news exposure shapes political attitudes.
DPhil Student
Boxi (bor-shi) is a DPhil researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute and a Research Policy Consultant with the OECD’s AI Policy Observatory (OECD.AI).
DPhil Student
David Michael Kelly is a DPhil student and former Visiting Policy Fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute researching international governance of frontier technologies.
DPhil Student
Yvonne is studying for a DPhil in Information, Communication, and Social Sciences. She researches Chinese technology investments and AI governance.
Former Researcher
Gillian Bolsover researches politics, citizenship and civil society in the modern world, focusing on the changes associated with new media technologies and on producing research that takes into account China and other non-Western populations.
Former DPhil Student
Clementine is a former DPhil student at the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research focused on AI and gender.
Former MSc Student
Allison was focused on technology and child development. Her research interests include STEM education, the influence of home, school, and social environments unto technology outcomes, women in STEM, and how to maximize positive outcomes.
Former Research Associate
Tom Nicholls is a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute studying the analysis of news texts using computational methods and the development of new methods for studying political behaviour online.
Former DPhil Student
Jon Penney is an OII DPhil alumnus. He is now Associate Professor and York Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence, Data Governance, and the Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, in Toronto.
Former DPhil Student
Marcelo Thompson was a DPhil candidate at the OII, working in the interplay between technology law and political theory. His thesis situated the legal problem of technological neutrality within the neutrality-perfectionism debate in politics.
Former MSc Student
Corinne Cath-Speth was a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research focused on the politics and ethics of Internet governance and the management of the Internet’s infrastructure.
Former MSc Student
Kate Sim was a DPhil Student at the OII researching the datafication and automation of sexual harassment reporting systems in US higher education. She now works at Google.
Former DPhil Student
Charles was a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute. His research focuses on the ethics and politics of federated digital identity systems.
Former DPhil Student
Flavia Saxler is a Recognised Student in Social Data Science at the Oxford Internet Institute. Her research focuses on AI ethics, gender, and data-driven approaches to violence against women.
