March 2025 - Air-L - lists.aoir.org

SEASON 2025 Conference – Search Engines and Society Network (Hamburg, 24-25 September 2025)
by Rosie Graham 31 Mar '25

31 Mar '25

SEASON 2025 Conference – Search Engines and Society Network (Hamburg, 24-25 September 2025) ====================== CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS ====================== SEASON is an annual conference that explores the multifaceted role of search engines in today’s culture and society. SEASON brings together researchers from different fields and fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration to deepen our understanding of search engines as cultural, societal, and technical artefacts, as well as how they are used in various practices. SEASON 2025 will be held as an in-person conference in Hamburg, Germany, from 24-25 September 2025. Submission for all categories via EasyChair: 30th of April 2025. For the full Call for Contributions, see https://searchenginesandsociety.net<https://searchenginesandsociety.net/> We welcome submissions on topics such as: · Social and cultural aspects of relevance · Epistemic implications of search-engine use · Search engines and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) · Search engines and information disorders (e.g., data voids, disinformation…) · AI and changing patterns of search engine use · Search and search engines and environmental crises (e.g., climate change) · The political economy of search and search engines · Search engine providers’ responsibility and accountability · Search engines as multi-sided platforms · History of web search and web search engines · Search engine bias and fair search · Ethical considerations related to search engines · Affect and emotional aspects of search engine use · Media and Information literacy related to search engines · Search engines and specific groups or communities (children, elderly, …) · Search engines and studies of ignorance and information avoidance · Search engines in everyday life and in social practices · Search engines in educational settings · Alternative approaches to concepts of indexing in search engines · Negotiations of search results (search engine optimization, paid search advertising) · Search engine comparisons (e.g., comparing results tailored to different locations, comparing results from different search engines) · Methods for search engine research · Data collection for search engine studies · Approaches to “opening the Black Box of search engine rankings” We welcome conceptual and empirical submissions from a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds, including the humanities, social sciences, and technical disciplines. We welcome approaches transgressing disciplinary boundaries and submissions from individuals from outside academia. Submissions discussing work in progress are welcome. We also encourage students to submit contributions. ============================ KEYNOTE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED ============================ Prof. Anne Beaulieu, University of Groningen, The Netherlands: Search engines beyond search: questions for a critical knowledge infrastructure Matthias Spielkamp, AlgorithmWatch, Germany: AlgorithmWatch: Algorithmic Accountability Reporting Revisited ==================== REGISTRATION IS OPEN =================== Register at https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=season2025 ================== SEASON NEWSLETTER ================== Subscribe to the SEASON newsletter at https://searchenginesandsociety.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=3e5f814ba8… =============================================== ABOUT SEASON, the Search Engines and Society Network =============================================== SEASON, The Search Engines and Society Network, brings together researchers and others interested in the diverse roles of search engines in today’s culture and society. After a series of workshops held across Europe, SEASON was set up in 2024 by a group of researchers from different fields and disciplines. Their goal is to highlight search engines as cultural, societal, and technological artifacts that increasingly effect many aspects of society across more and more domains, including politics, education, the economy, health, and the environment. SEASON serves as a forum promoting dialogue and collaboration across different disciplines and sectors, and a hub for expertise and research-based knowledge on search engines and society. Additionally, SEASON organizes an annual conference on search engines and society. Website: https://searchenginesandsociety.net<https://searchenginesandsociety.net/>

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Lecturer in Technologies in Digital Humanities
by Vrikki, Photini 31 Mar '25

31 Mar '25

Dear all, We are currently recruiting for a Lecturer in Technologies in Digital Humanities to join the Department of Information Studies at UCL. Applicants must answer research questions of relevance to a humanities discipline by applying or developing technological solutions in an interdisciplinary way. This may include approaches such as but not limited to software development (Python, R), front-end development (JavaScript), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), 3D modelling, Geographic Information Science (GIS), text analysis/corpus linguistics, digitisation, or emerging interdisciplinary technological areas. Closing date 12th April: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/search-ucl-jobs/details?jobId=33375&jobTi… All the best, Photini Dr Photini Vrikki (she/her) Lecturer in Digital Methods in the Humanities Programme Director Digital Humanities (MA/MSc) Department of Information Studies | Foster Court University College London | Gower Street | WC1E 6BT

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Call for essays Survey of 1960-70's Networked Experiments (Condor, Phoenix, OBAN, etc)
by Noel Packard 30 Mar '25

30 Mar '25

Dear Colleagues, Hope you are having a good day! Please share this CALL for essays for an issue of *American Behavioral Scientist* entitled 'Pre-Internet Networked Operations'. Essays invited for a survey of 1960s -1970s network experiments such as: *COINTELPRO *(US); *CHAOS* (US); *Phoenix* (Vietnam); *Condor* (South America); *ORDEN* (El Salvador); *Jakarta* (Indonesia); *OBAN* (Brazil) that networked societies prior to the Internet. The focus is on how evident or non-evident the communications were that supported these operations; the staffing and hardware; how networks were used; and, how they contributed to social and financial inequality and political polarization in the populations they monitored. These networked communities will be an unclassified, one-of-a-kind, historical-comparative, resource for media scholars, media users and social scientists. See CFP List link to view details, timeline and abstract portal: https://www.cfplist.com/CFP/40855 *DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS 1 OCTOBER 2025* Abstracts requested for an issue of *American Behavioral Scientist* issue entitled: "Pre-Internet Networked Operations" and guest edited by: Noel Packard Ph.D. Media, Film and Television, University of Auckland, N.Z. and Dr. Bradley Simpson, professor of history at University of Connecticut and author of *Economists with Guns: Authoritarian Development and U.S.-Indonesian Relations, 1960-1968.* Feel free to send questions to Noel Packard; npac825(a)aucklanduni.ac.nz Thank you. Kind regards, Noel Packard PhD

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WEBCAST MAR 29 – NYC School of Data 2025
by Joly MacFie 29 Mar '25

29 Mar '25

Very busy day for me. Streaming the main stage while recording 8 other tracks. Already there was a very good session on the stream, analyzing the data from the introduction of Congestion Tolls in NYC. [image: ISOC LIVE] <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=16de48a4d04ec78d74980b87…> On *Saturday March 29, 2025, BetaNYC <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=9700bf07f37f5b9936873877…>* hosts *NYC School of Data 2025 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=e141fb129eda8e70414bb65c…>* at CUNY School of Law in Queens. This year’s event celebrates the 13th anniversary of the City’s *transformative open data law <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=a29196953a104569f18aa038…>* and concludes *NYC Open Data Week 2025 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=8a732129798e337c408fe757…>*. NYC School of Data is a community driven conference with a focus on open data, civic technology, and service design. The main stage will be webcast via *ISOC.LIVE <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=08838b3ac2a34fe235f9aa03…>*. *ASL interpretation will be provided*. Other tracks will be recorded and made available via the BetaNYC YouTube channel. Much appreciation to *Reinvent Albany <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=fbb73d80c50e865df523edf8…>* for the funding support. *FULL PROGRAM: https://nycsodata25.sched.com <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=823fe2f7a9a0b40ae6a3d38d…>* *LIVESTREAM SCHEDULE* (All times EDT=UTC-4) *10:00 Opening Session* *Hon. Kristen Gonzalez* - Chair, Internet and Technology Committee, New York State Senate *Martha Norrick* - Chief Analytics Officer, Office of Technology and Innovation. NYC *Jazzy Smith* - Chief of Staff, BetaNYC *Noel Hidalgo* - Executive Director, BetaNYC *11:00 Congestion Pricing: Data Lessons From the First Three Months* *Matt Yarri* - Data Science Manager, MTA *12:15 Creating a Multimodal Urban Planning Simulation for Diverse Publics using NYC Open Data* *Katie McMillan Culp* - Chief Learning Officer, New York Hall of Science *Jenna Lang* - Content Producer, Trivium Interactive *Andrew Kittredge* - Civic Innovation Lab Director, BetaNYC *Amelia Merker* - Exhibits Manager, NYSCI *13:15 LUNCH* *14:30 Beyond the Data: The Tech Driving City Council Programs* New York City Council, Data Team New York City Council, Community Engagement Division New York City Council, Legislative Division *15:45 In Code We Trust: Volunteering and Careers in Government & Public Interest Technology* *Meli Glenn* - Experience Design Strategist, Digital Transformation Office, Human Centered Design Team, NYS Office of Information Technology Services *Noel Hidalgo* - Executive Director, BetaNYC *Martha Norrick* - Chief Analytics Officer, Office of Technology and Innovation *Gabe Paley* - Assistant Secretary for Technology, Office of Governor Kathy Hochul *Jai Rodgers* - Talent Community Manager, U.S. Digital Response *LIVESTREAM <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=0362c84a696aa3dcd002fe29…> | ADD TO CALENDAR <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=90a2c3108dc67b47c2a45860…> | PERMALINK <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=16de48a4d04ec78d74980b87…>* *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live *** - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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CFP: Responsible AI Governance for Connected Intelligence – HICSS 2026
by Jenifer Sunrise Winter 28 Mar '25

28 Mar '25

Please see our call for papers for the Responsible AI Governance for Connected Intelligence minitrack at HICSS next January. Submissions are due June 15. Selected papers from this mini-track will be invited to submit revised manuscripts for fast-track consideration in *Internet Research*. Aloha, Jenifer ---- CFP – Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-57) *Mini-track*: Responsible AI Governance for Connected Intelligence *Track*: Collaboration Systems and Technology *Location:* Hyatt Regency Maui, Hawaii *Conference Dates*: January 6–9, 2026 As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in connected digital ecosystems, responsible governance is essential to ensure accountability, ethical oversight, and societal alignment. AI-enabled systems facilitate decision-making, automate processes, and augment human capabilities across various sectors, leading to governance challenges in algorithmic accountability, data stewardship, and regulatory adaptation. This mini-track focuses on AI governance rather than broad AI ethics or human-AI collaboration. We seek research on institutional structures, operational mechanisms, and regulatory frameworks guiding AI governance across industries and jurisdictions. Key areas of interest include compliance strategies, policy enforcement, risk management, and AI impact assessments in interconnected digital environments. *Topics of Interest* We welcome theoretical, empirical, and applied research on topics including but not limited to: -- AI governance principles and frameworks -- AI regulatory policy and compliance -- AI impact assessment and risk management -- Corporate and institutional AI governance -- Data governance and privacy -- Human oversight and control -- Algorithmic accountability -- AI auditing and accountability -- Cross-sector AI governance challenges -- Multi-stakeholder AI governance models -- Cross-jurisdictional and distributed AI governance -- AI governance in decision-making processes -- Standards and best practices for responsible AI governance *Important Dates* -- April 15, 2025 – Paper submission begins -- June 15, 2025 – Paper submission deadline -- August 17, 2025 – Notification of acceptance/rejection -- September 22, 2025 – Final manuscript deadline -- October 1, 2025 – Deadline for at least one author to register For submission guidelines, please visit: http://hicss.hawaii.edu/tracks-and-minitracks/authors/ ***Fast Track to Journal Publication*** (at the discretion of mini-track chairs): Selected papers from this mini-track will be invited to submit revised manuscripts for fast-track consideration in Internet Research. – https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/intr *Mini-track Co-Chairs* -- Bo Xiao, Shidler College of Business, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, boxiao(a)hawaii.edu -- Kaveh Abhari, Fowler College of Business, San Diego State University, kbhari(a)sdsu.edu -- Jenifer Sunrise Winter, School of Communication and Information, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, jwinter(a)hawaii.edu -- Chee-Wee Tan, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, chee-wee.tan(a)polyu.edu.hk Jenifer Sunrise Winter, Ph.D. Professor, Communication Program, School of Communication and Information University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2550 Campus Road, Crawford Hall 325, Honolulu, HI 96822

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Social Media and Society in India Apr 4-5, full schedule
by Joyojeet Pal 28 Mar '25

28 Mar '25

Dear Friends, Please consider forwarding this to students or colleagues who may find it interesting. It's free for anyone who registers, and accepted papers get a grant to present in person in Michigan. Warmly, Joyojeet ***** We are excited to invite you to the *Social Media & Society in India Symposium (SMSI 2025)* taking place on April 4-5, 2025 at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Even if you do not do work in India, take a look at the exciting list of topics, some of which speak to how social media is impacting society everywhere around the world, and it's free to view online for anyone who registers! The conference is running in its 5th iteration and has in the past featured an unique blend of speakers, who are typically practitioners and professionals.This year's symposium brings together leading journalists, digital activists, researchers, and media professionals to explore the evolving role of social media in democracy, activism, business, and representation in India. *What to Expect* - *Panels & Talks* - The symposium will comprise of 5 sessions over two days, featuring lightning talks and moderated discussions. Day 1 (April 4) of the symposium will feature panels related to the theme of Citizenship and Democracy and Day 2 (April 5) will feature panels centred around the Social and Economic Aspects of social media platforms. - *Student Research Session* - Day 2 will also feature a session with poster presentations by student researchers on various aspects of Social Media and Society - *1:1 Office Hours and Interactions * - A chance to set up 10 minute zoom appointments with your favourite speakers at the conference - *AI & Social Media Workshop* – Day 2 will feature a workshop on “Integrating state-of-the-art AI tools in Social Media work” led by Dr. Kiran Garimella 📌 View Program Schedule & Speakers <https://joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/program.html> *Register Now* 🔗 The conference is open for registration for both in-person and online attendees: Sign Up Here <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe46Yskja8W9ZioyB0tACF4WzqriHp9LPI…> 🌐 Symposium Website <https://joyojeet.people.si.umich.edu/influencers.htm> We look forward to thought-provoking discussions and meaningful exchanges. See a full list of the talks below. *April 4, 2025* April 4: 9:00 - 9:15 (EDT) Opening Remarks Madhumita Lahiri, Director, Center for South Asia Studies *April 4: 9:15 - 11:15 (EDT) Session 1: Politics, Propaganda, and Public Opinion* *Ashok Lahiri* - *Campaign Management & Social Media* *Nilesh Christopher* - *Deepfakes and the 2024 Election: Pipelines of Creation, Use and Detection* *Kunal Majumder* - *The physical and virtual dangers to local journalists in an age of Social Media: Cases from India* *Neha Dixit* - *Framing Indian public discourse: Why gender lens in media and politics is essential* *Ayushi Kar* - *The Use of Customized Mobile Apps for Outreach and Campaign Management in India* *HV Jagadish* - Chair *April 4: 11:30 - 1:30 (EDT) Session 2: Digital Activism and Social Justice* *Raqib Naik* - *Digital Hate, Physical Consequences: How Online Hate and Extremism translates into real world violence* *Padmapriya Janakiraman* - *Claiming Rights in Cinema Today: Introspecting Rights in Malayalam Cinema* *Suchitra Vijayan* - *Mechanics of Digital Colonialism* *Arjun Sethi* - *The Empire strikes back: India's evolving response to popular diaspora advocacy on X* *Makepeace Sitlhou* - *Manipur conflict on social media amidst internet shutdown* *Aditya Vashishta* - Chair *April 4: 3:00 - 5:00 (EDT) Session 3: Media, Representation, and Criticism* *Makarand Paranjape* - *Space for Criticism in India* *Ramit Verma (Peeing Human)* - *Satire or History - The Indian Mystery* *Nidhi Suresh* - *Women, Trauma & Criminal Justice: Examining the Coverage of Sexual Violence in Digital News* *Bhanupriya Rao* - *Erosion of Equality: Gender Rights in Shifting Democracies* *Sambhaji Bhagat* - *Music and Activism in Offline and Online days* *Ram Mahalingam* - Chair *April 5, 2025* *April 5: 8:00 - 10:00 (EDT) Research Papers* *Gazal Shekhawat* (London School of Economics and Political Science) - *Platformising Weddings, Obfuscating Arrange-ments: Questions about desi digital enclosures* *Sejal Khurana, Suhani Mathur, Paro Mishra* (Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi) - *Old Wine In a New Bottle: Indian Momfluencers Performing New Momism on Instagram* *Kartikeya Reddy *(Hertie School) - *Celluloid campaigners: Hindi cinema characters as conduits for political messaging* *Jaya Mathur* (Jawaharlal Nehru University & Centre for the Study of Developing Societies) - *On Psychotherapy, Psychotherapists, & Psy-Speak: Reflections on Social Media Expertise and Psychologisation in India* *Sonia Kumari* (Indira Gandhi National Open University) - *Influencers from low-income groups: Some notes from the field* *Dhruv Raghavan* (Brown University) - *The Evolving Landscape of Indian Political Interviewing* *Riccardo Campana *(Bennett University & Ca' Foscari University of Venice) - *Political influencers and Ayodhya Temple inauguration: a new way to do politics* *April 5: 10:00 - 12:00** (EDT) **Session 4: The Business and Power of Influence* *Viraj Sheth* - *The Psychology of Relevance: Rise and Fall in the fast-paced Influencing lifestyle* *Ria Chopra* - *The Treasure in Small Data: Rethinking the ways influencing is analyzed in India* *Steph Ann Tomy* - *Making Light of Everyday Situations* *Pratik Sinha* - *The Economy and Ecosystem of Information Verification in India* *Pranav Malhotra* - Chair April 5: 12:00 - 2:00 Lunch Workshop *Integrating state-of-the-art AI tools in social media work* Dibyendu Mishra, Soham De and Kiran Garimella *April 5: **2:00 - 4:00 **(EDT) **Session 5: Social Media, Local Voices, and Changing Narratives* *Sonam Wangchuk* - *Online Glaciers: Moving the dial on Climate Activism in India* *Tanzil Asif* - *Hyperlocal and Rural Journalism in India: Evidence from Bihar* *Santosh Jadhav* - *Influencing through Agricultural Content: The case of Indian Farmer in Maharashtra* *Siddhesh Gautam* - *Art side of the moon: Aesthetics of Ambedkarism* *Sucharita Tyagi *- *Speaking Truth to Cinema: When Criticism is an act of resistance* *Bilal Butt* - Chair

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WEBCAST MAR 25 – Free State Foundation 17th Annual Policy Conference
by Joly MacFie 28 Mar '25

28 Mar '25

Let it not be said that ISOC.LIVE is partisan, even if it very much is, in support of the Internet Society's mission "to promote the open, secure, and globally connected Internet for all". Nevertheless ISOC and the FSF might occasionally be on the same page when it comes to avoiding ill-conceived legislation / regulation. However the current hold up in the role out of BEAD funding, the existential legal threat to the USF, and the newly announced 'Delete, Delete, Delete' are questionable. Some even worry that ted Cruz will revisit his positions on IANA. Likely there will be vocal support at today's event for these positions, but worth paying attention to pick up the odd nunce. I will run it though the ai summary mill when done. On Tuesday March 25, 2025, from 09:00-14:45 EDT (13:00-18:45 UTC) the The Free State Foundation (FSF) will convene their 17th Annual Policy Conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC. They will webcast the proceedings live on YouTube. AGENDA… <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=3dd8ca8638316a8a6b2c9d68…>On *Tuesday March 25, 2025*, from *09:00-14:45 EDT* (13:00-18:45 UTC) the The *Free State Foundation <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=719ca8bd094b7f9348419ff6…>* (FSF) will convene their *17th Annual Policy Conference <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=495ddd473e1dee4883840293…>* at the National Press Club in Washington DC. They will webcast the proceedings live on *YouTube <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=2714342ec5de09dc99e74174…>* . *AGENDA* (all times UTC-4) *09:00 – Welcome and Introduction* *Randolph May*, President, Free State Foundation *09:10 – Fireside 'New Directions in Competition and Consumer Protection Policies'* *Andrew Ferguson* - Chairman, FTC Co-Moderators: *Randolph May* / *Barry Nigro* *09:40 Keynote 'The Indispensable Right: FreeSpeech in an Age of Rage'* *Jonathan Turley* - George Washington University Law School *10:10 'New Directions in Communications Policy'* *Rick Cimerman* - VP, NCTA *Robert Fisher* - SVP, Verizon *Rosa Mendoza* - CEO, ALLvanza Moderator: *Seth Cooper*, Free State Foundation *10:45 Keynote 'The View from the Senate'* *Senator Ted Cruz,* Chair, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation *11:30 – Fireside - 'New Directions in Communications Policy'* *Brendan Carr* – Chair, FCC Moderator: *Randolph May*, FSF *12:10 Panel: 'Universal Service After the Supreme Court's Consumers' Research Decision'* *Michelle Connolly*, Duke University *Daniel Lyons*, Boston College Law School Moderator: *Randolph May*, FSF *13:10 Fireside – 'TMT With Mike O’Rielly'* *Melissa Holyoak* - Commissioner - FCC *Ajit Pai* - ex-Chair, FCC *Nathan Simington* - Commissioner, FCC Moderator: *Michael O'Rielly* - ex-FCC *14:15 'Keynote – 'The View from the House'* *Rep. Richard Hudson* - Chair, House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology *LIVESTREAM https://youtu.be/G33c8UlQjxE <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=2714342ec5de09dc99e74174…>* *TWITTER #FSFConf17 <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=7de9ecfa4653dd177f8c28e8…> @FSFthinktank MASTODON <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=ea6ea43e91211ef50a8124d2…> | BLUESKY <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=663b0555c99990795dd318d8…> | INSTA <http://isoc.live?action=user_content_redirect&uuid=5e45c155cbac26230011e761…>* *** ISOC.LIVE is a free webcasting support service for the Internet Society Community - ISOC LIVE is currently unfunded - if you would like to become a monthly sponsor - contact support(a)isoc.live *** - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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CfP: Hyperscaler Geographies | Digital Geographies Conference 2025
by Ulysses 28 Mar '25

28 Mar '25

Apologies for cross-posting. Dear All, We invite you to participate in our special session on Hyperscaler Geographies at the 4th Digital Geographies Conference 2025 – Artificial Geographies: Opening the Black Box for a New Wave of Critical Thinking at the University of Lisbon on November 3-4, 2025. Hyperscaler infrastructure has emerged as a critical site in debates over digital sovereignty, planetary infrastructure, and global political economy. Our panel seeks to examine how hyperscaler infrastructure reconfigures territorial arrangements, state sovereignty, and market dependencies between sectors and across regions. *Full Description: * Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) are increasingly driven by scaling laws—the principle that greater accumulation of data, computational power, and infrastructure generates exponential improvements in performance. Hyperscalers—dominant cloud service providers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Tencent, Huawei, and Alibaba—supply the computational infrastructure that powers AI and other data-intensive industries. This dominance extends beyond technical infrastructure, reshaping the political economy of global capitalism by reinforcing dependencies among firms, states, and markets and prompting pressing questions regarding sovereignty, governance, and territorial control, especially in the context of growing geopolitical tension and the unfolding polycrisis. Drawing on Benjamin Bratton’s concept of the stack, this panel explores how hyperscaler infrastructure reorganizes political and economic power across scales. The stack is not only a technical model of computational architecture but also a political and geoeconomic structure that shapes the circulation of goods, information, and capital. Geographers’ long-standing engagement with scale—as both an analytic lens and an empirical problem—offers valuable tools for theorizing this relationship. From relational and multi-scalar methodologies to theories of scalar fixes, geography can address how the political and economic power embedded in hyperscaler infrastructure reorganizes the territorial and political arrangements between states, markets, and firms. *We invite papers that examine: * - How hyperscalers are reshaping state sovereignty and geopolitical alignments. - How dependency on hyperscalers reinforces or disrupts territorial and economic arrangements between states, firms, or networks. - The uneven geographies of hyperscaler infrastructure—who controls it, who depends on it, and who benefits from it. - How the architecture or technical structure of hyperscaler infrastructure reflects and reinforces geopolitical competition, contestation, or collaboration. - Comparative perspectives on the effects of hyperscalers across states, sectors, or scales. We encourage theoretical and empirical contributions from political economy, infrastructure studies, platform economies, and digital geographies. We particularly welcome papers that address the political and territorial implications of hyperscaler infrastructure, and its role in shaping sovereignty and global economic asymmetries, the uneven geographies of hyperscaler control and dependency, and the technical and geopolitical contestations surrounding cloud infrastructure. We encourage contributions that explore how different sectors and regions intersect with the political economy of hyperscalers. *Submission Information: * Submit abstracts (max 250 words) by *April 30, 2025* here, selecting the Special Session on Hyperscale Geographies (Special Session #10): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfA3KwwzulWPBEubfIyP3ZAsmeGN8KXebD… *For more information regarding the conference:* https://ceg.igot.ulisboa.pt/digitalgeographies/ We will notify you by 15 May 2025. *Session Organizers: * Ulysses Pascal, Vrije Universiteit Brussel David Bassens, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Cheng Fang, Vrije Universiteit Brussel *References: * Amoore, L. (2018). Cloud geographies: Computing, data, sovereignty. Progress in Human Geography, 42(1), 4-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132516662147 Bassens, D., & Hendrikse, R. (2022). Asserting Europe's technological sovereignty amid American platform finance: Countering financial sector dependence on Big Tech? *Political Geography*, 97, 102648. Bassens, D., Pažitka, V., & Hendrikse, R. (2024). Banking in the cloud: mapping big tech’s global digital technology networks. *Regional Studies*. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2024.2391483 Bratton, B. (2015). *The Stack: On Software and Sovereignty*. MIT Press. Cai, Q. (2025). The Cultural Politics of Artificial Intelligence in China. *Theory, Culture & Society*. https://doi.org/10.1177/02632764241304718 De Goede, M., & Westermeier, C. (2022). Infrastructural geopolitics. *International Studies Quarterly*, 66(3), sqac033. Hardaker, S. (2025). From Bytes to Bricks: Advocating for a Turn Toward Platform-led Infrastructuralization in Economic Geography. *Progress in Economic Geography*, 3(1), 100038. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.peg.2025.100038 James, S., & Quaglia, L. (2024). Emergent regime complexity and epistemic barriers in ‘bigtech’ finance. *New Political Economy*, 29(6), 872–885. Langley, P., & Leyshon, A. (2021). The platform political economy of FinTech: Reintermediation, consolidation and capitalisation. *New Political Economy*, 26(3), 376–388. Narayan, D. (2022). Platform capitalism and cloud infrastructure: Theorizing a hyper-scalable computing regime. *Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space*, 54(5), 911–929. Rolf, S., & Schindler, S. (2023). The US–China rivalry and the emergence of state platform capitalism. *Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space*, 55(5), 1255–1280.

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Nominations for 2025-27 AoIR Executive Committee Are Open
by AoIR Association Coordinator 27 Mar '25

27 Mar '25

Dear AoIR Members, I am delighted to announce that AoIR is now seeking your nominations for the new Executive Committee, to take office in October of this year and serve until October 2027. Below, you will find: a) a timeframe for the election, b) a description of the AoIR governance system and of the elected positions, c) our nominations and elections processes, and d) some key questions for candidates. *A. Timeframe of the Election:* 1. The call for nominations opens on 19 March 2025 and will remain open for 15 days. 2. Nominations for all positions close on 2 April 2025. 3. Candidates will be listed on aoir.org and further information will be made available on our membership system, where discussion fora will let you ask questions of the candidates. 4. Voting begins on 22 April 2025 at our online balloting site and will remain open for 10 days. (Details for accessing this site will be sent in a later message through our membership system.) You must be a member of good standing on 20 April 2025 in order to vote. 5. Voting ends on 29 April 2025, expiring at 12:00 noon, U.S. Eastern Time in the State of Delaware. Election results will be announced on air-l. The new Executive Committee will be formally introduced and assume its duties during the Annual General Meeting (available via Zoom) during the AoIR conference in Niteroi, Brazil, on 18 October 2025. More information about our election processes can be found in the AoIR Bylaws: https://aoir.org/bylaws. Candidates should familiarize themselves with the duties laid out in the Bylaws. I also encourage persons interested in running for a specific position to contact me or any of the current office-holders with any questions. *B. AoIR Governance and Description of Elected Positions:* The organizational structure of AoIR is simple. There are 5 officers (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Graduate Student representative). The 9-member Executive Committee consists of these officers, plus the Past President and 3 Open Seat representatives. Elected officials hold their positions for two years. After two years, the Vice President becomes President. Nominations are invited for Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Graduate Student representative, and three Open Seats. You may nominate yourself or someone else you think would do a good job. Details on the nomination procedure follow below. Duties of the President: Article 4/Section 6 of AoIR's bylaws. Duties of the Vice President: Article 4/Section 7 of AoIR's bylaws. Duties of the Secretary: Article 4/Section 8 of AoIR's bylaws. Duties of the Treasurer: Article 4/Section 9 of AoIR's bylaws. Duties of the Graduate Student Representative: Article 4/Section 10 of AoIR's bylaws. Duties of Open Seat representatives: Represent the membership of AoIR, and contribute to decision-making. Members of the Executive have their membership fees waived for the duration of their term, and pay a reduced conference registration fee. (The Graduate Student Representative will receive a fee waiver for the ‘26 and ‘27 conferences.) We are particularly interested in talking to people interested in running for Treasurer. This person needs to have an American social security number, and experience in budget management (this could be a research budget, or the budget of a research unit, for instance). We have done much to professionalize this position in the last eighteen months–we have an accountant on hand, and use a bookkeeping company. We will fund an assistant for the Treasurer as well. Please consider running for this important position, and feel free to reach out to prez[(a)]aoir.org with any questions you may have. *C. Nominations and Elections Processes:* Only current members of AoIR can run for a position. They may be nominated by anyone, including themselves. If nominated for more than one position, a nominee must choose to run for one (and only one) position in this election. You may nominate yourself or others. If nominating someone else, confirm with that person that they are willing to run, and eligible to do so. Self-Nominations: Email AoIR Association Coordinator Michelle at ac[@] aoir.org and indicate the position for which you are nominating yourself. Please provide in your nomination email a short candidate statement addressing the questions below. Nominating Others: Email AoIR Association Coordinator Michelle at ac[@] aoir.org with the name of the person you want to nominate, the position for which you are nominating this person, contact information for the person, and an indication of whether you know if this person would accept this nomination. (If you don't know, we'll contact them and ask.) All candidates for election will be required to provide answers to the questions listed below, have the answers posted to the AoIR election forum, and participate in an online candidate forum. In addition, the Graduate Student candidates must confirm in their response that they comply with the by-laws: the Graduate Student Representative must be actively enrolled in a degree program at the time of nomination and election. The voting system used by AoIR allows one vote per member for each of the elected positions listed above. Votes will be tallied using a balloting software. In the case of the four directly elected officers, the candidate with the highest number of votes shall be declared the winner; in the case of the Open Seats, the candidates with the highest, second-highest, and third-highest votes shall be declared the three winners of the Open Seats. In the case of tied results for the officer positions, the winner shall be determined by the ballot counters, by the drawing of lots, using a method that ensures each of the tying candidates has an equal chance of success and witnessed by at least one person independent of the association. In the case of tied results for the open seat positions, the drawing of lots shall be used only when there are more tied candidates than seats available. *D. Questions for Candidates (these questions must be answered in your nomination email):* 1. What are your qualifications for this position (including prior experience and participation in AoIR)? 2. Please describe two or three short-term goals you would like to achieve through membership on the executive (including a rationale for each and how you would contribute to their achievement). 3. What is your long-term vision for AoIR? 4. What else should voters consider when deciding on whether or not to vote for you? In answering the questions, please be concise and give information specific to the position for which you are nominating, to enable voters to assess your case for election to that position. I sincerely hope that you will consider running, or nominating someone who you think would help advance AoIR and its community of internet scholars. Many thanks in advance to those willing to serve! Nik John President, Association of Internet Researchers

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OA publication of special issue "Religious populism in hybrid media"
by Dayei Oh 27 Mar '25

27 Mar '25

-- Apologies for cross-posting -- Dear colleagues, We are delighted to announce the open-access publication of the special issue "Religious populism in hybrid media" in the journal *Populism*, volume 8 issue 1. The online version is available following this link [1]. This issue features five original research articles from diverse geographical and religious contexts: Dayei Oh, “American abortion culture wars as religious populism: ‘Truth’ and ‘fight for truth’ as floating signifiers” Silvija Vuković and Nina Krapić, “A Populist, Influencer, and Religious Politician: A qualitative analysis of Marin Miletić’s communication on Instagram during the Croatian election campaign” Ihsan Yilmaz, Susan de Groot Heupener, Nicholas Morieson and Ana-Maria Bliuc,“Disruptive Signification in a Hybrid Media Ecology: Civilisational Populism in Pakistan, Turkey and Indonesia” Ali Alsayegh, “The Epistemic Modes of Muqtada al-Sadr’s Charisma Production on Hybrid Media” Feeza Vasudeva, “Political Deification and Religious Populism in Modi’s India” The issue concludes with an afterword by Katja Valaskivi and Johanna Sumiala (University of Helsinki), titled “Religious Populism: A Paradigmatic Mode of Address of the Hybrid Media Environment?” The introductory article, "Rush Hour of Populists: Religious Populism and Hybrid Media," seeks to develop a framework moving beyond conventional approaches to religious populism (either as the politicisation of religion or the sacralisation of politics) and advance a framework to highlight its role in shaping collective identities through transcendencies within hybrid media environments [2]. Enjoy the issue, and please let us know if you encounter any access issues. Best regards, Feeza Vasudeva & Dayei Oh (guest editors), University of Helsinki [1] https://brill.com/view/journals/popu/8/1/popu.8.issue-1.xml [2] https://doi.org/10.1163/25888072-bja10076

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