Director, Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Scott A. Hale is Director, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow. He develops and applies computer science techniques to the social sciences focusing on increasing equitable access to quality information.
From finding the best local restaurant to seeking medical advice, the information we consume shapes our choices. However, high-quality information is not equally accessible to all people online. Language barriers, socio-economic factors, digital literacy, misleading information, and personal attacks all contribute to growing inequalities in our online information ecosystem.
The Equitable Access to Quality Information Lab (eaqilab) at the Oxford Internet Institute is dedicated to researching and addressing these disparities. Our work explores how people navigate the digital landscape, what influences the visibility of information, and how misinformation, bias, and hate speech impact decision-making across different communities.
For too long, efforts to bridge the digital divide have focused solely on internet connectivity. In an age of information overload, access alone is not enough. Communities need tools to evaluate, organise, and make sense of the vast amounts of information they encounter daily. Our research helps design these tools, ensuring they are inclusive, effective, and relevant for diverse populations.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence hold incredible potential for improving access to quality information, but current AI advancements are largely designed for the global north. As AI, social media, and messaging apps increasingly mediate how people access news and knowledge, we must ensure these technologies work for everyone, especially communities in the larger world (aka global south).
Our research goes beyond theory. It drives policy, informs technology development, and supports civil society organizations worldwide. By developing research-driven solutions, we aim to create a more equitable digital world – one where everyone has the tools and knowledge they need to navigate, evaluate, and trust the information they consume.
For example:
Director, Associate Professor, Senior Research Fellow
Dr Scott A. Hale is Director, Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow. He develops and applies computer science techniques to the social sciences focusing on increasing equitable access to quality information.
DPhil Student
Andrew holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics from Yale University and an MSc in Social Data Science from the OII. He is a Clarendon Scholar and was previously a Thouron Prize winner at the University of Cambridge (Pembroke College).
Former Visiting Research Fellow
Gabriel is an digital anthropologist whose work has focused on understanding the sociocultural implications of social media algorithms in the Latin-American context and a Research Fellow at the ESRC Digital Good Network.
Research Associate
Dr Chico Camargo is an interdisciplinary researcher who develops and applies computational tools to study complex systems, collective human behaviour, public opinion dynamics and culture change.
DPhil Student
Calvin is a DPhil candidate in Social Data Science at the Oxford Internet Institute. His research examines how digital technologies shape the diffusion of misinformation, the formation of ideology, and the dynamics of public opinion.
Research Assistant
Julia is a Research Assistant for the Digital Good Network, where she is researching the digital good people want when using generative AI on private messaging apps.
DPhil Student
Kobi is a PhD candidate in Social Data Science and Clarendon Scholar at the OII. Kobi’s doctoral research evaluates the capabilities of artificial intelligence systems to influence human attitudes, behaviour, and cognition.
DPhil Student
Jude’s research focuses on building computational and machine learning models that can acquire and demonstrate social cognition skills by borrowing from principles in Psychology, Social Sciences and Cognition.
DPhil Student
Hannah is a 4th year DPhil student in Social Data Science at the OII and a Research Scientist at the UK AI Security Institute. Her research explores how to align AI systems with the values and preferences of diverse human populations.
DPhil Student
Jabez is a DPhil student in Social Data Science at the OII. His research focuses on misinformation and developing automated fact-checking methods for misinformation in multiple modalities and across multilingual contexts.
DPhil Student
Amy is a DPhil candidate. She researches empathic communication with digital audiences.
DPhil Student
Jonathan is a DPhil student in Social Data Science at the OII. Jonathan's research focus is socio-technical evaluations of multimodal human-AI interactions.
DPhil Student
Manuel is a second-year DPhil student in Social Data Science and a Shirley Scholar at the OII. His research is focused on the cross-geographic study of harmful online content moderation.
The Digital Good Network (DGN) delivers an interdisciplinary, social science-led research programme centred on the urgent, neglected question of what the digital good should look like and how it can be achieved.
Media narratives on migration are perceived to have a significant impact on policy decisions and public attitudes toward migration. The project applies tools and methods to enable practitioners to make more effective policy decisions.
This project seeks to measure and explain what societal issues are given the highest priorities by media organizations, policy makers, and the general public in different nations and languages of the European Union.
