Full project title: Alternative News Networks – Understanding the spread and influence of disinformation, propaganda, and divisive political news content in the UK online information ecosystem
We live in an era of extraordinary polarization, with western societies becoming more and more divided across political lines and cleavages. Individuals of different political background consume different news sources, live in different areas, and work in different professions. They are sometimes sceptical of the idea of marrying people from a different background, or welcoming them into their family.
What is driving these changes? Some researchers have started to connect these broad developments in societal polarization to the emergence of a new type of online only media source that produces divisive and inflammatory news reporting. These outlets, which seem to be especially successful at gaining traction on social media, have only just begun to attract academic attention, and much more remains to be done understanding how they operate, how they reach people, and how exposure to their content has an impact on individuals.
This project seeks to fill this research gap. Based on a combination of the latest data science techniques, the latest qualitative research into the nature of divisive sources in four widely spoken UK languages (English, Hindi, Punjabi and Polish), and supported by a social scraping architecture which allows us to track their reach and spread on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and YouTube (whilst protecting the privacy and anonymity of the people interacting with the stories), we will seek to answer the following major questions:
The outputs of the project will be a mixture of practitioner friendly reports and academic journal publications.
The global pandemic has brought to the fore the pressing problems caused by disinformation, leading many scholars to study the “infodemic” that is accompanying and exacerbating the public health crisis. Disinformation about the virus has already led to serious health repercussions in countries around the world. Our research on COVID-related disinformation looks at the prominence of stories by junk news outlets and state-backed media outlets on social media. ComProp researchers are also investigating the systems that help these junk news stories to succeed: from the online advertising ecosystem to incentives on social media platforms.
The tools of computational propaganda are often deployed around elections, as various actors seek to sway public opinion through legitimate and illegitimate means. Our research on disinformation and elections looks at information-sharing on social media by members of the electorate, foreign influence campaigns, and the role of these campaigns in political polarization. We have conducted research on elections in Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Asia.
Our team is interested not only in the content of disinformation but also in the technologies and systems that shape the information landscape. To this end, our research examines the various forces constraining and enabling computational propaganda: how tech companies incentivise and amplify problematic content, how governments seek to regulate these companies, and how tech platforms themselves are responding.
The tools of computational propaganda are increasingly deployed by states to shape public opinion, sow distrust, and create confusion both at home and abroad. Our research on state-sponsored disinformation looks at the proliferation of “cyber troops” in countries around the world, the reach and contents of state-sponsored media outlets, and the impacts of foreign influence operations.
Former Research Associate
Project role: Principal Investigator
In 2022 Jonathan Bright became the Head of AI for Public Services at the Turing Institute, having previously been a faculty member of the OII. A political scientist, he specialises in computational and ‘big data’ approaches to the social sciences.
Professor of Internet Studies
Project role: Principal Investigator
Philip N. Howard is a professor of sociology, information, and international affairs. He is Director of the Programme on Democracy and Technology, and is a Professorial Fellow of Balliol College.
Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Project role: Researcher
Dr Scott A. Hale is an Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow, and Turing Fellow. He develops and applies computer science techniques to the social sciences focusing on increasing equitable access to quality information.
DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
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.
Former DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
Mona Elswah is a DPhil candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), where she examines digital repression, collective actions, and disinformation in the Arab world
Former MSc Student
Project role: Researcher
Megha is a graduate in journalism from the University of Delhi and holds an extensive experience at using digital media for social development. She is looking to build on her work involving online political campaigns, digital literacy and livelihoods
Postdoctoral Researcher
Project role: Researcher
Vidya studies machine learning for biodiversity, as part of the "Benchmark for Nature" project for the Oxford Martin School's Programme on Biodiversity and Society.
DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
Marcel is a doctoral candidate in Social Data Science and Researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project. His research is at the intersection of political science, statistics and computer science, with a focus on elections and disinformation.
Former MSc Student
Project role: Researcher
Christian holds a BA in World Politics from Leiden University and has worked at the Clingendael Institute, focusing on EU governance. He is interested in data visualisation and how social media structures political communication.
Former MSc Student
Project role: Researcher
Katarina was an MSc candidate at the OII. She was previously the Director of CODE in Washington DC, where she worked with US federal agencies and other governments around the world to use data and technological change for the public good.
Project role: Researcher
Project role: Researcher
DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
Alexandra is a DPhil candidate at the OII and a researcher on the Programme on Democracy and Technology studying the gendered dimensions of political communication during times of conflict.
DPhil Student
Project role: Researcher
Anna George is a Social Data Science doctoral student who uses computational approaches to study online political behaviour. Her research focuses on the message diffusion of alternative communities such as hate groups and political extremists.
28 February 2022
We hear from Anna George, a DPhil student on the Social Data Science programme, supported by the Avast Foundation, about the current pitfalls in the draft legislation and why greater reforms are needed to combat online harms.
DemTech investigates the use of algorithms, automation, and computational propaganda in public life.
