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New Yorker: Can the Internet Be Governed?
by Joly MacFie 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Lengthy Op-Ed by Akash Kapur. Paywall but first time visitors should be fine. If in trouble ask me for the text. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/02/05/can-the-internet-be-governed Will the Internet harden into an oligarchic playground, or will it become > the tamer (and perhaps less innovative) place envisioned by European > regulators, something akin to a digital public utility? Will large sections > of it eventually bend to the power of tyrants and illiberal populists, > determined to stamp out what Xi Jinping has castigated as the network’s > “hidden negative energy”? Or will the more consequential influence be the > model that India is pioneering, a walled garden in which private enterprise > is allowed to flourish, but within confines established by the state? The answer may at least partly lie in how—and where—the Internet is being > used. In 1996, when Barlow wrote his manifesto, there were some eighty > million Internet users around the world, eighty per cent of whom lived in > North America and Europe. Today, there are more than five billion people on > the Internet, roughly two-thirds of them from countries in the Global > South. India and China now account for about half the world’s mobile-data > traffic; the fastest-growing population of users is in Africa. The Internet > remains a work in progress. But there’s reason to think that its future is > being written in a very different place than its past was. -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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'Behind the Scenes', Session 8: Sahana Udupa
by J.C. Vieira Magalhaes 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear colleagues On February 20th (Tuesday), from 3-4 pm (CEST), 'Behind the Scenes', our online talk series on the making of empirical work about platform governance, will host a presentation by Sahana Udupa (LMU Munich). Udupa, a leading media anthropologist, will discuss her research on the algorithmic governance of extreme speech and how she worked to circumvent the hurdles imposed by the tech industry. More info on the talk and how to register for it can be found below and here: https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/session-8-sahana-udupa-p… -- Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research, Session 8: Platform governance and extreme speech: Three approaches to corporate stonewalling In the ERC-funded AI4Dignity project, we developed a collaborative coding space, which we called “Counterathon” (a marathon to counter hate), to invite AI developers, ethnographers, and factcheckers to an assisted dialogue to assess classification algorithms in hate speech detection and the training datasets involved in creating them. In subsequent publications, we proposed a methodology for combining ethnography with “algorithm auditing” (Sandvig et al., 2014) that can articulate a critique and contribute to policy in an interrelated way (Udupa et al., 2023). Throughout this process, several challenges emerged in terms of accessing and assessing algorithmic logics that inform Big Tech’s decisions to act on problematic content. Gaining access to data and developing a close understanding of organizational and algorithmic rationale are necessary to develop a sound analysis of platform governance, but researchers are confronted with corporate stonewalling and several hurdles along the way. In this talk, I will reflect on three approaches that we adopted in partly circumventing as well as foregrounding such hurdles, and what we might still accomplish even when corporates don’t cooperate. I will delve into algorithmic auditing, community partnership and “cruel optimism” (Berlant 2011) around corporate invitations for collaborations. Bio Sahana Udupa is Professor of Media Anthropology at LMU Munich and founder of the Center for Digital Dignity. Her books include Digital Hate: The Global Conjuncture of Extreme Speech (Indiana University Press); Digital Unsettling: Decoloniality and Dispossession in the Age of Social Media (New York University Press); Making News in Global India: Media, Publics, Politics (Cambridge University Press) and Media as Politics in South Asia (Routledge). She is the recipient of Joan Shorenstein Fellowship at Harvard University, Francqui Chair (Belgium) and European Research Council Grant Awards (Consolidator Grant, 2023; Proof of Concept 2021; Starting Grant, 2017). Registration Please register via this form <https://forms.gle/xq2irQb4mnHkLUcD6> shortly with an email-address for the full series or this event only, so that we can share the meeting link with you. About the Series This talk is part of the series Behind the Scenes – Conversations on Empirical Platform Governance Research <https://platform-governance.org/online-talk-series/> that invites scholars in this field to share their experiences and views, fostering community exchange about how we can study platform governance in this challenging context. It is hosted by the Lab “Platform Governance, Media, and Technology” (PGMT) at the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI), <https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/zemki> University of Bremen, and the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies <https://www.rug.nl/research/icog/research/research-centres/centre-for-journ…>, University of Groningen. -- João C. Magalhães <https://jcmagalhaes.com/> Assistant Professor in Media, Politics and Democracy University of Groningen | Centre for Media and Journalism Studies Selected publications: A history of objectionability in Twitter’s moderation practices <https://academic.oup.com/joc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/joc/jqad015/720476…>, 2023 (Journal of Communication, w/ Emillie de Keulenaar, Bharath Ganesh) | Social media, social unfreedom <https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/commun-2022-0040/html>, 2022 (Communications, w/ Jun Yu) | Big Tech, data colonialism and the reconfiguration of social good <https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/15995>, 2021(International Journal of Communication, w/ Nick Couldry) | Algorithmic visibility and bottom-up authoritarianism in the Brazilian crisis <http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/4042/>, 2019 (PhD, LSE) | Considering algorithmic ethical subjectivation <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2056305118768301>, 2018 (Social Media + Society)

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Queer Data - Book discussion with Kevin Guyan, 6 February 2024, 17:00 CET, CIS CNRS Hypertextes
by Melanie Dulong de Rosnay 05 Feb '24

05 Feb '24

Dear colleagues, The Center for Internet and Society of CNRS, Paris, organizes a monthly online reading event, Hypertexts, taking the form of a discussion with the author of a book that's making the news in the field of internet and society. Sessions are not recorded, link is sent upon registration. The next Hypertexts session will take place on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, from 5 to 6 pm CET, and we're delighted to host Kevin Guyan (University of Glasgow) for his book Queer Data (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2022). The book will be discussed by Simon Apartis and Ramya Chandrasekhar, researchers at CIS-CNRS. We invite those who are interested to sign up. The registration page is in French, but the session will be in English. Event page: https://cis.cnrs.fr/hypertextes-kevin-guyan/ Registration link: https://cis.cnrs.fr/extras/inscriptions/hypertextes.php Data has never mattered more. Our lives are increasingly shaped by it and how it is defined, collected and used. But who counts in the collection, analysis and application of data? This important book is the first to look at queer data – defined as data relating to gender, sex, sexual orientation and trans identity/history. The author shows us how current data practices reflect an incomplete account of LGBTQ lives and helps us understand how data biases are used to delegitimise the everyday experiences of queer people. Guyan demonstrates why it is important to understand, collect and analyse queer data, the benefits and challenges involved in doing so, and how we might better use queer data in our work. Arming us with the tools for action, this book shows how greater knowledge about queer identities is instrumental in informing decisions about resource allocation, changes to legislation, access to services, representation and visibility. Kind regards, -- Melanie Dulong de Rosnay Research professor, CNRS https://cis.cnrs.fr/en/melanie-dulong-2/ Director, Center for Internet and Society of CNRS, Paris https://cis.cnrs.fr/en/the-cis/

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Job Offer: Phd Candidate and Research Associate in Data Protection Law and IT Law at the SFB 1187 "Media of Cooperation"
by Skop, Yarden 04 Feb '24

04 Feb '24

Dear Colleagues, we are hiring a Phd Candidate and Research Associate in Data Protection Law and IT Law at the interdisciplinary research center, SFB 1187 "Media of Cooperation" https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/en/ , https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de/de/ . More detailed information below (see also: https://jobs.uni-siegen.de/job/Research-Associate-%2875%29-in-Data-Protecti… ). The job offer is for MA graduates in law who are interested in IT law, data protection law, European law, digital media, sensory media, AI, and critical data studies. German language skills are desired for this position, but we are flexible with the level of German depending on other qualifications. Please share widely and if you have questions, feel free to get in touch with me. ---- The University of Siegen is a modern university with an international orientation and a focus on interdisciplinary research. It currently has around 15,000 students and covers a range of research fields from the humanities, social and economic sciences to natural sciences, engineering and life sciences. With over 2,000 employees, the university is one of the largest employers in the region and offers a unique environment for teaching, study, research and knowledge transfer. We seek: In the Faculty III: School of Economic Disciplines, civil law, and media law, we are looking for a researcher at the following conditions: 75% = 29,87 hours Pay grade 13 TV-L limited 31.12.2027 SFB 1187 "Media of Cooperation" The Collaborative Research Center “Media of Cooperation” (SFB 1187) is an interdisciplinary international research network consisting of 18 projects and more than 60 scientists from media studies, science and technology studies, law, ethnology, sociology, linguistics and literary studies, computer science and medicine as well as history, education and engineering (see https://www.mediacoop.uni-siegen.de) It has been funded by the DFG since 2016. Research focuses on the study of digitally networked media and their practices. The position is located in the sub-project A07 “Personal Data Industries”. The interdisciplinary project combines law methods with digital methods and media ethnography to research the industry of programmatic advertising, based on pervasive data collection from users. The research associate will be in charge of analyzing the findings collected by the media scholars in the project, from a legal perspective. The focus is on the legal aspects of personal data trading, with a particular focus on the role of sensor data. Your tasks: * Conduct legal research in the project "Personal Data Industries" of the SFB 1187 with special focus on data protection and privacy law, property rights and access rights to data as well as legal issues relating to artificial intelligence. * Analysis of practices of user tracking and targeting in the area of online advertising, in particular programmatic advertising, and their legal evaluation. Further development of central institutions of data protection law based on this. * Participation in the events of the Collaborative Research Center and contribution to its joint research program. * Regular presentation of interim results of the doctorate at research conferences and in the research colloquium of the research center. * Communication of the project results in research publications and collaboration on public relations measures. * Organizing scientific events as part of the sub-project. * Close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Maximilian Becker and support for research in the fields of data and IT law. Your profile: * Above-average first state examination in law or an above-average academic university degree (diploma, master's degree) in the field of economic law * In-depth Interest in data, IT and IP law * Interest in interdisciplinary research and participating in academic exchange with media studies and social sciences * Willingness to participate in the international event program of the research group * Willingness to perform, ability to work in a team, communicative and organizational skills * Very good written and spoken English * At least basic knowledge of German with a willingness to improve German language skills, preferably reading and comprehension at a high level, especially in German legal language * Willingness to do a doctorate Our range of services: * Promotion of your own scientific or artistic qualification according to the Wissenschaftszeitvertragsgesetz [act on temporary employment in higher education] * Diverse opportunities to take on responsibility and make a visible contribution in the research and teaching environment * A modern understanding of leadership and collaboration * Good work-life balance, for example, through flexible working hours and work location, as well as support with child care * Extensive personnel development program * Health management with a wide range of prevention and counseling services We look forward to receiving your application by 27.02.2024. Please apply exclusively via our application portal (https://jobs.uni-siegen.de) Unfortunately, we cannot consider applications in writing or by e-mail. Your contact person: Contact person in faculty III: Ms. Hanna Siebel Phone: 0271 / 740-3460 siebel(a)uni-siegen.de Contact person in the SFB: Ms. Yarden skop yarden.skop(a)uni-siegen.de Equal opportunities and diversity are promoted and embodied at the University of Siegen. The advertisement is explicitly addressed to people of all genders; applications from women will be given special consideration in accordance with the State Equal Opportunities Act. We also welcome applications from people with different personal, social, and cultural backgrounds, people with severe disabilities, and people of equal status. -- Yarden Skop | PhD Candidate and Research Associate | Special Collaborative Research Center "Media of Cooperation" | University of Siegen | Herrengarten 3, AH-306 | Germany Recent articles: Archiving the Present. Critical Data Practices During Russia’s War in Ukraine https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/15361 The fabrics of machine moderation: Studying the technical, normative, and organizational structure of Perspective API https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517211046181

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4S 2023 Open panel - Decolonizing Data Infrastructures: Pluralizing Imaginaries and Histories of Datafication (due May 26)
by Yousif Hassan 03 Feb '24

03 Feb '24

*** Please feel free to share and circulate to your networks *** -- - *Submission Instructions*: https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions.php <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.4sonline.org/call_for_submissions.p…> - *Deadline for Abstract *Submissions: May 26, 2023 (notification of acceptance on June 9) 90. Decolonizing Data Infrastructures: Pluralizing Imaginaries and Histories of Datafication <https://streaklinks.com/BexeNN94uPDoRFUKtAnGHDZl/https%3A%2F%2Furldefense.c…> *Yousif Hassan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Jane Yeahin Pyo, University of Massachusetts-Amherst;** Paola Ricuarte, Tecnologico de Monterrey; Anita Chan, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign* Discourses of decolonization have become salient in the field of AI/Big Data and global circles of responsible innovation. These discourses often take a universalist view of ethics, or imply a vision of AI mono-futurism based on Euro-American centric understandings of the social, political, and economic implications of data-driven developments across different geographies of the Global South and North. This panel attempts to problematize such trends by recovering the pluralistic histories of decolonization across different geographies of knowledge production. We seek nuanced discussions of surveillance, prediction, and segregation economies and resistances to them that are underpinned by alternative ways of knowing and being in the world. We invite methodological, theoretical, and empirical contributions that engage with alternative future imaginations to remake or refuse dominant data-driven imperatives and look for past and present practice from places that have been historically excluded from knowledge-making. This includes work that: - Open up spaces for solidarity and reimagination of shared human futurities that confront and seek to dismantle systems of oppression - Problematize notions of intelligence and ethics based on Western understandings of human difference. - Explore colonial ideologies reproduced through information ecologies and their impacts on marginalized communities - Illuminate Southern epistemologies that contribute to more inclusive and accountable practices or policy around data infrastructures. - Address feminist, racial and social justice approaches to technology to interrogate relations of power across situated data ecologies. - Examine communal approaches to technology and their implications for political economies *Contact: *asaychan(a)gmail.com, yousif(a)illinois.edu, forrain526(a)gmail.com, pricaurt(a)tec.mx Keywords: Social Movements and STS, Decolonial and Postcolonial STS, Big Data, AI, and Machine Learning, decolonization infrastructures, data/AI colonialism, data solidarities, AI mono-futurisms, socio-technical pluri-histories, political economy of technology, datafication, Indigenous STS, Feminist STS, Race/Black Studies and STS, Social Movements and STS, Transnational STS, coloniality, decolonial computing and media technologies, critical race and media studies, infrastructure studies ᐧ

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Bristol Digital Futures Institute (Professor / Associate Professor / Lecturer) - deadline tomorrow
by Cornel Sandvoss 03 Feb '24

03 Feb '24

Dear Colleagues, It will have been a hectic month for most, maybe all, of us, so I just wanted to follow up on my colleagues' messages at the beginning of January to remind you of the upcoming deadline (end of Sunday, 4th February) for the below four posts at the Bristol Digital Futures Institutes. If you are working broadly in the field of digital media and/or media and communication research, cultural studies, media studies or social anthropology I wanted to highlight that there are opportunities for you to find your home department in the School of Arts which includes the departments of anthropology, philosophy, film and television, music and theatre (if you have any last minute questions on this, just drop me a line). Details are below: Professor in Digital Futures<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/details/?nPostingId=163034&nPostingTarg…> [x1 post] Lecturer in Digital Futures<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/details/?nPostingId=163037&nPostingTarg…> [x2 post] Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in Digital Futures and AI<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find/details/?jobId=332044&jobTitle=Senior%2…> [x1 post] Thank you! All Best, Cornel Cornel Sandvoss Professor of Film & Television Head of School of Arts 43 Woodland Road University of Bristol Bristol BS8 1UU United Kingdom Tel: + 44 117 455 5960

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Invitation to workshop
by Lisa Reutter 03 Feb '24

03 Feb '24

Hei all! Together with Itzelle Medina Perea from Sheffield University, I'm organizing a workshop about translating critical data and algorithm studies into impact in Copenhagen. How can scholars within critical data and algorithm studies influence people and organizations to think about datafication in a different way that will (hopefully) produce better decisions and societal outcomes than would have been achieved without the presence of their work? Join us for a two-day workshop to discuss impact-related activities. Deadline for application is the 7 February 2024. No abstract needed. Find all information about the workshop here: https://cts.ku.dk/tim-talks/2024/translating-critical-data-and-algorithm-st… The aim of the workshop is three-fold. 1. Provide a platform for scholars associated with critical data and algorithm studies to discuss their role as researchers of technological change. 2. Initiate and establish a network of knowledge-exchange on impact-related activities in the field of critical data and algorithm studies. As part of this effort, we will publish public resources online after the workshop to share the knowledge produced with other researchers. 3. Provide a safe and friendly environment to discuss potential collaborations to develop impact-related activities and products (e.g dialogue events or public sector guidelines) We are looking forward to welcoming you in Copenhagen! Best, Lisa and Itzelle!

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Special Issue: Social Media and Platform Work: Stories, Practices, and workers' organisation" (Convergence Journal) edited by Júlia Vilasís-Pamos, Fernanda Pires, Rafael Grohmann and Willian Fernandes Araujo
by Fernanda Pires 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

Dear colleagues, *Convergence* journal just published the special issue *Social media and platform work: Stories, practices, and workers’ organisation*, edited by Júlia Vilasís-Pamos, me, Rafael Grohmann and Willian Fernandes Araujo. This special issue aims to deepen the understanding of how platform workers engage with social media. During the last decade, social media have been instrumental within platform work because they are fundamental to this type of labour. Platform workers’ use of social media can be considered forms of communication, socialisation and organisation. Through WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and other channels, workers can share tips, stories, and practices. Therefore, it is crucial to develop new understandings of the different uses, discourses, practices and stories that emerge when platform work intersects with social media. In the introductory article, we highlighted the roles of social media for platform labour, especially social media affordances in platform work cultures, social media as labour, and socialisation, solidarity and narratives. */TABLE OF CONTENTS/* /Social media and platform work: Stories, practices, and workers’ organisation/ Júlia Vilasís-Pamos, Fernanda Pires, Rafael Grohmann and Willian Fernandes Araujo https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565241227391 /Cooperative solidarity among crowdworkers? Social learning practices on a crowdtesting social media platform/ Annika Becker, Leonard Ecker, Inga Külpmann, Karen Schwien, and Patrick Stobbe https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231183298 /Delivery workers’ visibility struggles: Weapons of the gig, (extra)ordinary social media, and strikes/ Ergin Bulut and Adem Yeşilyurt https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231188415 /The porous boundaries of public and private messages: Solidarity networks of Latin American food delivery workers in NYC/ Ambar Reyes https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231210984 /What is so funny about platform labour in Brazil? Ride-hailing drivers’ use of humour and memes on Facebook groups/ Fernanda Pires, Tugce Ataci and Willian Fernandes Araujo https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231160622 /Gig workers, critical visuality and humour in a digital context: The graphic representation of riders as a form of social criticism/ Sandra Martorell and Antoni Roig Telo https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231181981 /Exposing the mess in the online kitchen: Bon Appetit and digital continuities in legacy media’s workplace exploitations/ Emmelle Israel https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231193121 /Cooperative affordances: How instant messaging apps afford learning, resistance and solidarity among food delivery workers/ Tiziano Bonini, Emiliano Treré, Zizheng Yu, Swati Singh, Daniele Cargnelutti and Francisco Javier López-Ferrández https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231153505 /The mutual configuration of affordances and technological frames: Content creators in the Chilean influencer industry/ Arturo Arriagada and Ignacio Siles https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231157364 /Delivery riders’ cultural production in Spain: A thematic analysis of their self-representation on YouTube/ Fernanda Pires, Jose Tomasena and Martina Piña https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231161252 /Partners or workers? Mexican app deliverers on YouTube and TikTok/ Gabriela Elisa Sued and Arturo Rodriguez Rodriguez https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231179963 /Self-representation as platform work: Stories about working as social media content creators/ Fabian Hoose and Sophie Rosenbohm https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231185863 /Influencers’ Instagram imaginaries as a global phenomenon: Negotiating precarious interdependencies on followers, the platform environment, and commercial expectations/ Vanessa Richter and Zhen Ye https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565231178918 /‘Traffic rewards’, ‘algorithmic visibility’, and ‘advertiser satisfaction’: How Chinese short-video platforms cultivate creators in stages/ Yang Huang and WeiMing Ye https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/13548565231211117

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2024 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol)
by Antonio Martella 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

***2024 Conference of the Italian Association of Political Communication (AssoComPol)*** The new European public sphere, the crises and challenges of "post-truth" 30 May - 1 June 2024, University of Catania, Italy https://www.compol.it/eventi/convegno/convegno-2024/ (under construction) One of the salient aspects in the recent dynamic transformation of public opinion is the process of integration between national and European communication spaces, which together increasingly converge on a scenario of complex global interdependencies. While this integrative trend was taking shape, itself a topic of debate and controversy, the European arena had to deal with new challenges, that mainly derived from a succession of global crises (economic, migratory, pandemic, war). These challenges, as well as generating geopolitical and economic instability, have highlighted a further and deeper impact of the transformations of the communication context, such as digitalisation, platformisation, polarization and the set of phenomena that cluster around the imprecise and debated concept of post-truth. The crisis phases have highlighted the progressive shift towards the European sphere of many issues that previously featured in national contexts of debate and policy-making. This has made this process of Europeanization an object of persistent attention in flows of political communication, and given integration itself a structure of polarized politicization. Due to the growing importance of the Union and the greater prominence of European-level issues in national political-media systems, it can be hypothesized that the phase of European elections as "second-order" elections in member countries has ended. One significant aspect is that they have become an object of interest for some foreign governments who, through the propagation of fake news and propaganda, attempt to influence the choices of citizens and governments to the point of undermining the integrity of the elections. At the level of individual states, we note the role of populist parties and their leaders, who are accused of spreading content of dubious veracity to influence electoral contests and referendums. These processes are considered a threat to the values of civil coexistence and public debate, and trust in democratic institutions. The increased salience of the issues now found in European public space poses challenges to the agency of organized civil society. The structure of national public spheres has in fact changed, giving greater space to new actors with the ability to set agendas and influence public debate. In this context, a different methodological approach has made it possible to overcome the top-down/bottom-up dichotomy of participatory processes in the process of integrating the European communication space. It thus seems appropriate to pay attention to the communicative activities of social movements that operate at a trans-national level (e.g. environmentalists), and to those of interest groups that expand their activities towards the European dimension (trade unions, businesses and consumers). Worthy of interest are the movements of protest, sometimes labeled as populist, which mobilize simultaneously in various European countries, displaying networked transnational connections. These processes are discursively articulated within a media ecosystem that is significantly influenced and distorted by phenomena of intolerance and incivility present in digital environments; communicative exchanges become radicalized and the very frames of the issues are influenced, causing the polarization of the arenas of debate. The world of journalism has followed the process of Europeanization of national spheres and their politicization, often from a critical perspective, underlining the inadequacy of the Union's institutional responses and calling for their reform. This is accompanied by a crisis of journalism, characterized by loss of legitimacy of traditional media, which faces the affirmation of a framework of extreme fragmentation in information practices. It is necessary to deepen our understanding of the transformation of the news generation process, the impact on the role of journalists and editorial staff as gatekeepers and guarantors, and what adaptation and reaction strategies are in place, in the face of the complexity of the debate on information in European space. On the basis of this framework, the call for papers solicits contributions that investigate the transformation of the national and European public sphere with particular attention to the challenges posed by crises, disinformation and manipulation phenomena. The areas investigated are those of electoral campaigns, strategies implemented by political actors and civil society and by traditional media, the impact of platformization processes on the fields of political communication, journalism and all other forms of communication. Theoretical and empirical analysis papers are welcome, with research designs that include qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods methodologies. Some possible relevant topics, though this is not intended to be an exhaustive list: - changes that have occurred and new communication scenarios in the increasingly close and complex relationship between political communication and the public sphere; - the restructuring of ideologies and propaganda practices; - the redefinition of the public agenda in European space; - the transformations and controversial nature of the international-European public debate with reference to processes of ideological and affective polarization, the use of incivility, and forms of discrimination online and offline, also with attention to gender issues; - policies regarding political communication, information and the integrity of elections, formulated by European and national institutions (transparency of platforms and privacy; regulation of electoral campaigns, etc.); - the emergence of new repertoires of extra-institutional political communication linked to protests, social movements and civil society actors, especially of a transnational nature; - transformations and crises of contemporary journalism, with particular attention to the growth of new professional models and the role of the digital platform; - trends that have emerged in the communication styles of leadership and parties in a hybrid and platformized communication ecosystem; - from a discourse analytical perspective, linguistic and/or multimodal aspects of post truth communication; - the technological infrastructure of political participation with particular regard to young generations (digital parties, networks, influencers, memes, UGC); - methodological proposals and theoretical contributions to address the transformations of the public sphere, disinformation and new forms of conflict and political competition; - (computational) propaganda techniques and mis/dis-information strategies in conflict scenarios. Paper proposals must include: name, affiliation and email address, a title and an extended abstract with bibliographic references (600/800 words excluding bibliography), 3 key words. The proposers must also explicitly indicate whether they request the paper to be taken into consideration, after the conference, for publication in the magazine "Comunicazione Politica". In the event of an equal evaluation by referees, the authors who have indicated this option will have priority in selection for the conference. *Useful information on how to write an abstract for AssoComPol conferences is available in the “Abstract Instructions” section* ( https://www.compol.it/eventi/convegno/convegno-2024/ under construction) - Deadline for sending proposals: *11 March 2024* - Acceptance notification: *25 March 2024* - Complete papers must be sent by *May 22, 2024 *to the conference paper room (accessible after login) --

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Visiting International Fellowship scheme, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield -- closes 6 March 2024
by Tim Highfield 02 Feb '24

02 Feb '24

Dear all, The Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield is inviting applications from scholars worldwide for its Visiting International Fellowship programme for the 2024-2025 academic year. This is a competitive scheme across the entire thematic scope of the Department, which includes the Digital Media and Society team. With AoIR2024 to be held in Sheffield from 30 October 2024, potential attendees might be interested in applying for this scheme, especially if coming from countries on the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee List of Overseas Development Assistance countries. There are two categories of fellowship: Senior International Fellow and Early Career International Fellow, with one award per category. Fellowships are awarded for the duration of one academic year, and involve a mix of in-person (one visit) and virtual engagement and collaboration. In-person visits are expected to last between 4 and 6 weeks, and should avoid July and August. This is not a paid fellowship, but there is funding provided to support the in-person visit. Applications close on 6 March 2024, and full details about the scheme are available here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/socstudies/news/apply-our-visiting-internationa… It is strongly advised to discuss a potential application well ahead of time with members of the Department. There are numerous people whose research covers subjects and themes relevant to AoIR members; from a Digital Media and Society / Science, Technology and Medicine in Society perspective, this includes: Dr Hannah Ditchfield (currently on leave) Dr Ysabel Gerrard Dr Eva Giraud Dr Briony Hannell Dr Tim Highfield Professor Helen Kennedy Dr Lianrui Jia Dr Ozge Ozduzen Dr Warren Pearce Dr Preeti Raghunath Dr Harrison Smith Dr Stefania Vicari Dr Kate Weiner Dr Ros Williams You can find contact information for the above, as well as information about the academics across the Department and their research, here: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/socstudies/people/academic-staff The Department of Sociological Studies features four key research themes - Everyday Life and Critical Diversities; Social Inequalities and Social Order; Well-being Across the Lifecourse; and Science, Technology and Medicine in Society (see https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/socstudies/research/research-themes) Potential applicants might see their research as fitting within one or more of these themes, as well as having connections to other research areas, networks, and centres located within the Department. Please do get in touch with any questions. Many thanks, Tim. -- *Dr Tim Highfield | *Pronouns: he, him, his Lecturer in Digital Media & Society Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield C435, The Wave 2 Whitham Road Sheffield S10 2AH Director, Digital Society Network: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/social-sciences/research/digital-society *Latest writing* Highfield, T., & Miltner, K.M. (2023). '‘Platformed solidarity: examining the performative politics of Twitter hashflags’. *Convergence*. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/13548565231199981 Highfield, T. (2023). 'BeReal Now: Digital temporal authenticity on BeReal'. *Flow*, *29*(4): http://www.flowjournal.org/2023/02/bereal_now_temporal_authenticity/ *Instagram: Visual Social Media Cultures* <http://timhighfield.net/research/instagram/> (with Tama Leaver and Crystal Abidin; Polity, 2020) *Social Media and Everyday Politics* <http://timhighfield.net/research/social-media-and-everyday-politics/> (Polity, 2016) timhighfield.net / @timhighfield <http://twitter.com/timhighfield>

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