Algorithms play a central role in social media platforms – and may contribute to systemic, structural challenges to democracy and human rights. As identified in the White Paper, through their decisions around the design of algorithms, the platforms have a significant impact on citizens’ rights to information and free expression, our rights not to be discriminated against or abused, and core democratic values.
This is the second in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around coronavirus (COVID-19). This briefing focuses on the way far-right groups and individuals are mobilising around COVID-19 in the US. The first briefing in the series can be found on ISD’s website.
This is the first in a series of briefings from ISD’s Digital Research Unit on the information ecosystem around COVID-19. This first briefing compiles research from ISD’s own analysis of online platforms, as well as summarising recent investigations and research on the state of play of disinformation around COVID-19.
This report presents the findings of a research project of ISD’s Digital Analysis Unit about the alternative online-ecosystem of the far-right, including alternative social media platforms and alternative media outlets.
This report presents the findings of a research project investigating the scale and nature of online hateful speech in France. It examines different categories of hateful speech, spanning race, gender, sexuality, religion and disability.
This summary report presents the findings of an impact and process evaluation of these programmes, designed to ensure that they reached their target audiences, to identify whether the programmes helped drive positive behaviour change in the children and young people that went through the training, and to provide insights into what improvements should be made for future delivery.
This report presents the findings of Young Digital Leaders Phase 2, a digital citizenship education programme delivered by ISD and supported by Google.org. It was designed to empower young people across Europe to be positive and proactive members of their online communities, with roll-out across Bulgaria, Greece and Romania in 2019. It contains impact data and analysis from various participant groups – students, teachers and parents – as well as broader recommendations for digital citizenship policy and programming.
This briefing brings together the findings of a group of eight organisations who monitored the UK’s digital landscape leading up to the General Election. It provides overwhelming evidence that current regulations are not fit for the digital era.
On 8th April 2019, the UK Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) released its much-anticipated Online Harms White Paper, setting out a range of proposed legislative and non-legislative measures to tackle online harms ranging from illegal (e.g. terrorist content) through to harmful but not necessarily illegal online behaviour.
This report examines intervention approaches currently being used to challenge political extremism globally, drawing on 19 interviews with practitioners based in Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, the UK and USA.
