Associate Professor
Professor Joss Wright is the group leader for the Subversive Technology Lab, his work focuses on computational approaches to social science questions, with a particular focus on technologies that exert, resist, or subvert control over information.
In today’s digital world, technology plays a dual role—it can be used to control, censor, and manipulate, but it can also resist oppression, protect privacy, and uphold human rights.
Governments, corporations, and other entities deploy technologies to monitor individuals, censor content, and influence societies. Meanwhile, activists, researchers, and technologists develop tools to counteract these measures, safeguard privacy, and uphold transparency.
The Subversive Technologies Lab examines technologies that exert, resist, or subvert control over information. Our work examines their dual role in:
Our research is interdisciplinary, combining expertise in computer and data science, machine learning, and Bayesian statistical inference. We develop novel methods to measure and model hard-to-observe phenomena, such as network shutdowns and criminal activities in digital spaces.
We work closely with the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, among other research institutes worldwide.
The Oxford Internet Institute has pioneered research into privacy, surveillance and digital rights. We collaborate with civil society, activists, and policymakers to provide insights that help mitigate harm and maximise the benefits of subversive technologies.
We have ongoing relationships with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the Online Observatory of Network Interference (OONI), Access Now, The Open Technology Fund, UNEP WCMC, TRAFFIC, and other international organisations.
Associate Professor
Joss Wright's research interests lie in information controls, privacy-enhancing technologies, and cyber-enabled crime. His current research focuses on measuring internet censorship, and uncovering the online illegal wildlife trade.
DPhil Student
Michael is a doctoral candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute.
MSc Student
Safiyah holds a BASc in Arts and Sciences from UCL. She is a MSc Social Science of the Internet candidate, interested in analysing the dynamics of digital colonialism in the Global South and the implications on development outcomes.
MSc Student
Jit Ping holds a BA in Economics with minors in Data Science and International Relations. He has a keen interest in furthering social equity and promoting sustainability.
DPhil Student
William is a Rhodes Scholar and DPhil student in Social Data Science at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII). His research focuses on developing and applying Multimodal AI systems to explore the impact of internet censorship.
This project seeks to determine how the factors that drive internet filtering can negatively affect vulnerable groups in society.
This project investigates the economic geographies of illegal economic activities in anonymous internet marketplaces.
This project will develop an international hub to track and analyse the global wildlife trade, both online and offline, and develop strategies to reduce the threat of the trade through social policy interventions.
