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Event Announcement: "Digital Constitutionalism and Content Governance: Understanding Social Media after the Capitol Hill Events" (31 March)
by Dennis Redeker 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

Dear colleagues, Perhaps relevant for some on this list: We are pleased to invite you to join the online workshop ‘*Digital Constitutionalism and Content Governance: Understanding Social Media after the Capitol Hill Events'*. The event will take place on Zoom on *31st March 2021 from 2-3.30pm GMT (Dublin/London)*, and is organised by the DCU LAW_AND_TECH Research Cluster and the Dublin Law and Politics Review. The workshop will feature a multi-disciplinary roundtable discussion with communication, political science, computing and law scholars examining the consequences of the January 6th Capitol Hill events on social media governance. This will also be an opportunity to present the first findings of the project 'Digital Constitutionalism: In Search of a Content Governance Standard' funded by Facebook Research, in which I am co-investigator. For more information, please find the programme of the event below. Please register here for the event: bit.ly/3exQGBk We look forward to seeing many of you! Best, Dennis ---- *Digital Constitutionalism and Content GovernanceUnderstanding Social Media after the Capitol Hill Events* 31 March 2021, 14.00-15.30 Dublin time Live on Zoom: Registration link <http://bit.ly/3exQGBk> *Programme*14.00-14.05 Opening remarks *Anne Marieke Mooij, Dublin Law and Politics Review* 14.05-14.15 Setting the scene *Dennis Redeker, University of Bremen* 14.15-15.00 Roundtable discussion with questions from the audience Panelists: - Prof Maura Conway, Dublin City University - Prof Eugenia Siapera, University College Dublin - Dr Tanya Lokot, Dublin City University - Dr Suzanne Little, Dublin City University - Dr Rishi Gulati, Dublin City University Moderator: *Dr Edoardo Celeste, Dublin City University* 15.00-15.30 Presentation of the Project ‘Digital Constitutionalism: In Search of a Content Governance Standard’, funded by Facebook Research - Dr Nicola Palladino, Dublin City University - Dr Kinfe Yilma, Addis Ababa University Q&A

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Communities of Play: A Livestreaming Symposium, April 17-18
by Christopher John Olson 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

You are cordially invited to Communities of Play: A Livestreaming Symposium, hosted by Serious Play/the Digital Cultures Collaboratory at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee. The symposium will take place on April 17-18, featuring online presentations of and about streaming of video gameplay and other performative activities, both in and out of the academy. The event will feature streamers from around the U.S. and will coordinate with a parallel event in Jyväskylä, Finland. The symposium will take place on Twitch, so please join us in chat! We have included a brief schedule of events below. More details are to follow on Twitch, Facebook, and Twitter! Brief Schedule of Events: April 17: Join us for presentations from our colleagues in Jyväskylä on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/serious_play April 18, 12 PM – 5 PM Central: Join us on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/serious_play 12 PM | Keynote Speaker: Krista-Lee Malone (University of Wisconsin) 1 PM | Ryan Thompson (Michigan State University) 2 PM | Thomas Malaby and Ryan House (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) 3 PM | Lunch Break 4 PM | Social Follow Serious Play on social media for more information! Twitch: https://m.twitch.tv/serious_play Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/SeriousPlayUWM Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/SeriousPlayUWM Christopher John Olson PhD candidate: Media, Cinema, and Digital Studies University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Office: Curtin 392 Email: olson429(a)uwm.edu Reviews Editor, The Popular Culture Studies Journal<http://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture-studies-journal/> Author/Co-Author/Co-Editor Normalizing Mental Illness and Neurodiversity in Entertainment Media<https://www.routledge.com/Normalizing-Mental-Illness-and-Neurodiversity-in-…> (Routledge, 2021) The Greatest Cult Television Shows of All Time<https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538122556/The-Greatest-Cult-Television-Shows-of…> (Rowman & Littlefield, 2020) Convergent Wrestling<https://www.routledge.com/Convergent-Wrestling-Participatory-Culture-Transm…> (Routledge, 2019) 100 Greatest Cult Films<https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442208223/100-Greatest-Cult-Films> (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) Heroes, Heroines, and Everything in Between<https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498539579/Heroes-Heroines-and-Everything-in-Bet…> (Lexington, 2017) Possessed Women, Haunted States<https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498519083/Possessed-Women-Haunted-States-Cultur…> (Lexington, 2016) Making Sense of Cinema <https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/making-sense-of-cinema-9781501320217/> (Bloomsbury, 2016)

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2021 AoIR Dissertation Award Nominations - Deadline 15 April
by Michelle, Association of Internet Researchers 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

The Association of Internet Researchers calls for submissions for the 2021 AoIR Dissertation Award. To be eligible for the AoIR Dissertation Award, a PhD dissertation in the area of internet research must have been filed in the 2020 calendar year. Nominations (self and other) must be received by 15 April 2021. All methods and disciplines are welcome. Submissions Details: - A nomination letter that explains why the dissertation is deserving of the award - How it contributes to internet research - A PDF copy of the dissertation should be emailed to dissertationaward [@] aoir dot org - The graduate or their supervisor must be a member of AoIR - Self-nominations are permitted - Filed in 2020 (meaning fully defended, all edits complete, filed/published with a 2020 copyright) The recipient of this award will be announced this summer. In addition to winning a cash prize, the individual will also be invited to present their research at AoIR 2021 October 2020. The committee this year is comprised of Taina Bucher-University of Oslo (chair), Nadia Kutscher-University of Cologne, Jessica Lingel-University of Pennsylvania, John McNutt-University of Delaware, Jasmine Rault-University of Toronto, Aljosha Schapels-Queensland University of Technology For any questions please contact Taina Bucher dissertationaward(a)aoir.org or Lynn Schofield Clark prez(a)aoir.org.

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Digital Methods Summer School 2021 - Amsterdam
by Richard Rogers 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

{resending to the list without the inline hyperlinks} Digital Methods Summer School 2021 5 - 16 July 2021 Online via Zoom or in-person (as circumstances allow) New Media & Digital Culture University of Amsterdam Turfdraagsterpad 9 1012 XT Amsterdam the Netherlands Call for participation. Fake everything: Social media’s struggle with inauthentic activities This year’s Summer School has as its theme the so-called ‘faking’ and detecting of inauthentic users, metrics and content on social media. The uptick in attention to the study of the fake online could be attributed in the first instance to the ‘fake news crisis’ of 2016, where it was found that so-called fake news outperformed mainstream news on Facebook in the run-up to the U.S. presidential elections that year. That finding also set in motion the subsequent struggle around the occupation of the term from a type of news originating from imposter media organisations or other dubious sources to a ‘populist’ charge against mainstream and elite media that seeks to delegitimate sources found publishing inconvenient or displeasing stories. In its study we have had calls to cease using the term, fake news. There also has been a variety of classification strategies. Both the expansion as well as contraction of the term may be seen in its reconceptualisation by scholars as well as by the platforms themselves. The definitional evolution is embodied in such phrasings as ‘junk news’ and ‘problematic information’, which are broader in their classification, whilst the platforms appear to prefer the terms ‘false’ (Facebook) or ‘misleading’ (Twitter), which are narrower. On the back-end the platform companies also develop responses to these activities. They would like to automate as well as outsource its detection and policing, be it through low-wage content moderators, (volunteer) fact-checking outfits or user-centred collaborative filtering such as Twitter’s ‘birdwatchers’, an initiative they say born of societal distaste for a central decision-making authority, found through qualitative interviews. They also take major decisions to label content by world leaders (and indeed have world leader content policies), which subsequently land platform governance and decision-making in the spotlight. More broadly there has been a rise in the study of ‘computational propaganda’ and ‘artificial amplification’ which the platforms refer to as ‘inauthentic behaviour’. These may take the form of bots or trolls; they may be ‘coordinated’ by ‘troll armies’, which has been outlined in Facebook’s regular ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour reports’. As its head of security policy puts it, Facebook defines it (in a roomy and plainspeak manner) as ‘people or pages working together to mislead others about who they are or what they are doing’. Occasionally data sets become available (by Twitter or other researchers) that purport to be collections of tweets by these inauthentic, coordinated campaigners, whereupon scholars (among other efforts) seek to make sense of which signals can be employed to detect them. Other types of individuals online also have caught the attention of the platforms as ‘dangerous’ (Facebook), and have been deplatformed, a somewhat drastic step that follows (repeated) violations of platform rules and presumably temporary suspensions. ‘Demonetisation’ also is among the platforms’ repertoire of actions, should these individuals, such as extreme internet celebrities, be turning vitriol into revenue, though there is also the question of which advertisers attach themselves (knowingly or not) to such content. Moreover, there are questions about why certain channels have been demonetised for being 'extremist’. Others ask, is ‘counter-speech’ an alternative to counter-action? On the interface, where the metrics are concerned, there may be follower factories behind high follower and like counts. The marketing industry dedicated to social listening as well as computational researchers have arrived at a series of rules of thumb as well as signal processing that aid in the flagging or detection of the inauthentic. Just as sudden rises in follower counts might indicate bought followers, a sudden decline suggests a platform ‘purge’ of them. Perhaps more expensive followers gradually populate an account, making it appear natural. Indeed, there is the question of which kinds of (purchased) followers are ‘good enough’ to count and be counted. What is the minimum amount of grooming? Can it be automated or is there always some human touch? Finally, there is a hierarchy in the industry, where Instagram followers are the most sought after, but ‘influencers’ (who market wares there) are often contractually bound to promise that they have not ‘participated in comment pods (group 'liking' pacts), botting (automated interactions), or purchasing fake followers'. Organisers: Richard Rogers, Guillen Torres and Esther Weltevrede, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. Application information at https://www.digitalmethods.net Prof. Richard Rogers Media Studies University of Amsterdam Out now: R. Rogers (2019), Doing Digital Methods, Los Angeles: Sage. Just out: R. Rogers and S. Niederer (eds.) (2020), The Politics of Social Media Manipulation, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

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WEBCAST TODAY – VIRTUAL PEERING SERIES – AFRICA #8: Death of Transit & The Evolving Role of IXPs | LA SÉRIE VIRTUAL PEERING – AFRIQUE #8: Mort du transit et évolution du rôle des IXP
by Joly MacFie 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

This is, by a long chalk, the most popular event in the Virtual Peering Series thus far - a LOT of sign ups. Of course, Geoff Huston has been harping on about this for some time. It will be interesting to see what the other operators have to say. ISOC Live posted: "On Tuesday March 23 2021, at 13:00-14.30 UTC, the African IXP Association, in partnership with the Internet Society, presents the eighth webinar in the Virtual Peering Series – Africa, with the theme 'Death of Transit & The Evolving Role of IXPs'. Th" [image: Livestream (English)] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/afpeering8>On *Tuesday March 23 2021*, at *13:00-14.30 UTC*, the *African IXP Association <https://www.af-ix.net/>*, in partnership with the *Internet Society <https://www.internetsociety.org/regions/africa/>*, presents the eighth webinar in the *Virtual Peering Series – Africa <https://www.afpif.org/virtual-peering-series-africa/>*, with the theme '*Death of Transit & The Evolving Role of IXPs <https://www.afpif.org/virtual-peering-series-africa/death-of-transit-the-ev…>* '. The global Internet industry is consolidating. More traffic emanates from fewer autonomous systems every day, primarily due to the growth of global cloud & content delivery services. As more content and services migrate to their platforms, they work to expand their private global networks to the Internet’s edge via undersea cables, terrestrial networks, and data centers where they interconnect directly with eyeball networks. This installment of the Virtual Peering Series – Africa will explore what this phenomenon means for Internet exchange points (IXPs) in Africa and around the world. [image: Livestream (Francais)] <https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/afpeering8>Le *mardi 23 mars 2021*, de *13h00 à 14h30* UTC, l'*Association africaine des IXP <https://www.af-ix.net/>*, en partenariat avec l'*Internet Society <https://www.internetsociety.org/regions/africa/>*, présente le huitième webinaire de la série Virtual Peering - Afrique, sur le thème « *Mort du transit et évolution du rôle des IXP <https://www.afpif.org/fr/serie-de-peering-virtuels-afrique/mort-du-transit-…>* ». L’industrie Internet mondiale se consolide. Plus de trafic émane de moins de systèmes autonomes chaque jour, principalement en raison de la croissance des services mondiaux de cloud et de diffusion de contenu. À mesure que de plus en plus de contenus et de services migrent vers leurs plates-formes, ils s’efforcent d’étendre leurs réseaux mondiaux privés vers la périphérie d’Internet via des câbles sous-marins, des réseaux terrestres et des centres de données où ils s’interconnectent directement avec des réseaux oculaires. Cet épisode de la Série de peering virtuels – Afrique explorera ce que ce phénomène signifie pour les points d’échange Internet (IXP) en Afrique et dans le monde. *SPEAKERS / CONFERENCIERS* *Geoff Huston*, Chief Scientist, Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) *Mark Tinka*, Head of Engineering, SEACOM *Christian Kaufmann*, Vice President Technology, Akamai Technologies *Patrick Christian*, Principal Analyst, TeleGeography *MODERATORS / MODÉRATEURS* *Kyle Spencer*, Executive Director, Uganda Internet Exchange Point and Co-Coordinator, African IXP Association *Caglar Dabanoglu*, Senior Network Architect, Akamai Technologies *LIVESTREAMS* *https://livestream.com/internetsociety/afpeering8 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety/afpeering8>* (English) (open captions) *https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/afpeering8 <https://livestream.com/internetsociety2/afpeering8>* (Francais) *PARTICIPATE VIA ZOOM https://bit.ly/3sO9AaZ <https://bit.ly/3sO9AaZ> *(EN/FR Interpretation, English closed captions) *REAL TIME TEXT* *https://www.streamtext.net/text.aspx?event=CFI-ISOC <https://www.streamtext.net/text.aspx?event=CFI-ISOC>* (English) *TWITTER #IPeerinAfrica <https://bit.ly/IPeerInAfrica> @internetsociety @AfIX https://bit.ly/IPeerInAfrica <https://bit.ly/IPeerInAfrica>* Geoff Huston @apnic Mark Tinka @SEACOM @ckatminxsdotnet @Akamai Patrick Christian @TeleGeography @kyleville @caglardabanoglu , *SIMULCASTS_* *https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/ <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive> (English only)* *https://www.facebook.com/InternetSociety/live <https://www.facebook.com/InternetSociety/live>* *https://www.facebook.com/ISOCAfrica/live <https://www.facebook.com/ISOCAfrica/live>* *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/afpeering8 <https://archive.org/details/afpeering8>* *EVENT SPONSORS* LINX <https://www.linx.net/> | PAIX <https://paix.io/> | Rack Centre <https://rack-centre.com/> *SERIES SPONSORS* Facebook <https://about.fb.com/company-info/> | NAPAfrica <https://www.napafrica.net/> *Permalink* https://isoc.live/13825/ - -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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CFP: Decelerated Academy? Enclosures, Enthusiasms, and Epidemics (Valencia, Spain, October 2021)
by German.Llorca＠uv.es 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

Dear Colleagues; As an institution, the University faces the challenge of its own survival in the 21st century. The educational ecosystem that integrates it is under pressure and some hard conditions that restrict the work of teachers and researchers. The ‘Accelerated Academy’ project is promoted by an international group of academics willing to problematize the university institution. The global aim of the initiative is to critically reflect and rethink the spaces and times that constitute the university as an institution. Edition #8 of the ‘accelerated academy’ arrives in Valencia in October 2021 with the title: “Decelerated Academy? Enclosures, Enthusiasms, and Epidemics”. The event is sponsored and co-organized by the University of Valencia (Spain) and CRITICOM and it is open to the entire international university, academic and research community. The conference will feature the opening and closing lectures by César Rendueles and Remedios Zafra and expects to open spaces for debate and the construction of alternatives for a ‘better university’. The main topics of the congress section of the event cover a great variety of points of view: - COVID-19 as leverage of previous debates of knowledge production and creative work. - Creative production within lockdown measures and online environments. - Intersectional inequalities as key factors in the pandemic consequences of creative labor. - Lasting and new hierarchies in Academic labor and their visibility. - North-South relationships regarding the investigation and the diffusion of results. - Deceleration of Academic workflows. - Uncertainty in future work and their emotional (enthusiasm) and material (Academic duties) implications. In the following link you can access the complete information of the CFP, including the key-dates information: https://accelerated.academy The organizers have put at your disposal the email address (accacademy8(a)uv.es) so that you can make any inquiries you may consider about the event. You all are invited to be part of it (!!!) The Organizers -- **************************** Germán Llorca Abad **************************** CLÀUSULA DE CONFIDENCIALITAT Aquest missatge ha estat generat des d'un compte de la Universitat de València per a les finalitats pròpies de la institució. El seu contingut es considera confidencial i, llevat que la seua naturalesa així ho exigisca, no se’n permet la reproducció o distribució sense autorització expressa. Si heu rebut indegudament el correu, us demanem que advertiu d'aquest fet al remitent i que l’elimineu. En el lloc web institucional de la Universitat de València podeu consultar les nostres condicions d'ús i polítiques de privacitat pel que fa a l'enviament de correu electrònic (http://links.uv.es/E0GKasq, http://links.uv.es/26uC3dX) Podeu comunicar qualsevol incidència relacionada amb la recepció dels nostres correus electrònics, i en particular aquelles que es relacionen amb la seguretat i la confidencialitat, mitjançant lopd(a)uv.es.

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Unsubscription
by Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

Hello, please unsubscribe info(a)hiig.de from your list! i did it serveral times, but we still recieve e-mails. Thank you! best Maischa -- <http://www.hiig.de/>Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft gGmbH Französische Straße 9 · 10117 Berlin T +49 30 200 760 82 · F +49 30 206 089 60 · www.hiig.de <https://www.hiig.de> <http://www.facebook.com/HIIG.Berlin> <https://twitter.com/hiig_berlin> <https://www.instagram.com/hiigberlin/> Gesellschaftssitz Berlin | Amtsgericht Berlin Charlottenburg | HRB 140911B | USt-ID DE 291 151 171 Forschungsdirektorium: Prof. Dr. Jeanette Hofmann (Geschäftsführung) · Prof. Dr. Björn Scheuermann · Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Schildhauer · Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz | Geschäftsführung: Dr. Karina Preiß

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WEBCAST TODAY: WSIS 2021 High-Level Policy Sessions 133/154: Bridging Digital Divides
by Joly MacFie 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

The first session of this is just finishing. High level could be interpreted to mean starchy wordiness, but there are nuggets to be found. Probably the best way to digest is to read the transcripts, which I will upload to the archive in short order. Spicing up proceedings is the inclusion of representatives from Cambodia and iran. ISOC is represented by Trustee Olga Cavalli, and USA by our FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel. ISOC Live posted: "Today, Monday March 22 2021 at 11:00-15:15 UTC the World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021 (WSIS 2021) opens its High Level Sessions with two sessions, 133 and 154, on "Bridging Digital Divides". SESSION 133: 11:00-12:30 UTC OPENING Mr. Houlin " [image: livestream] <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/wsis2021-dd>Today, *Monday March 22 2021* at *11:00-15:15 UTC* the *World Summit on the Information Society Forum 2021 <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2021/>* (WSIS 2021) opens its *High Level Sessions <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2021/HighLevel>* with two sessions, *133 <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2021/Agenda/Session/133>*and *154 <https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2021/Agenda/Session/154>*, on "*Bridging Digital Divides*". SESSION 133: 11:00-12:30 UTC *OPENING* *Mr. Houlin Zhao*, Secretary-General, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) *H.E. Mr. Maxim Parshin*, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, Russian Federation *PANEL* *Mr. Stephen Bereaux*, Deputy Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) *H.E. Ms. Masooma Khawari*, Minister, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), Afghanistan *H.E. Mr. Sanjay Dhotre*, Union Minister of State for Education, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, Ministry of Communications, India *H.E. Mr. Hajymyrat Hudayguliyev*, Chairman (Minister), «Türkmenaragatnasyk» (Turkmen Communications) Agency, Turkmenistan *H.E. Dr. Jenfan Muswere*, Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services, Zimbabwe *H.E. Mr. Sattar Hashemi*, Deputy-Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Iran (Islamic Republic of) *Mr. Chenda Thong*, Chairman, Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia (TRC), Cambodia *Dr. Jacek Oko*, President, Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), Poland *Dr. Salma Abbasi*, Chairperson and CEO, eWorldwide Group *Ms. Clarisse Iribagiza*, Founder and CEO, HeHe *MODERATOR* *Dr. Olga Cavalli*, South School on Internet Governance SESSION 154:14:00-15:15 UTC *OPENING* *Malcolm Johnson*, ITU *PANEL* *Dr. Bilel Jamoussi*, Chief of the Study Groups Department, Standardization Bureau, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) *H.E. Dr. Daryl Vaz*, MP, Minister, Ministry of Science, Energy & Technology, Jamaica *H.E. Ms. Allyson West*, Minister, Ministry of Public Administration and Digital Transformation, Trinidad and Tobago *H.E. Ms. Pamela Gidi*, Vice Minister, Under Secretariat of Telecommunications, Chile *Ms. Nahima Díaz*, Director General, Instituto Nicaraguense de Telecomunicaciones y Correos TELCOR, Nicaragua *Mr. Apollo Knights*, Director, National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines *Ms. Jessica Rosenworcel*, Acting Chairwoman, Federal Communications Commission, United States *Dr. Mercedes Aramendia*, Presidenta de Directorio de URSEC, UNIDAD REGULADORA DE SERVICIOS DE COMUNICACIONES (URSEC), Uruguay *Mr. Luis Pacheco Zevallos*, Manager, Enforcement Directorate, Telecommunications Regulatory Agency - OSIPTEL, Peru *Ms. Kate Wilson*, CEO, DIAL *MODERATOR* *Ms. Eleanor Sarpong*, Deputy Director & Policy Lead, A4AI/Web Foundation *LIVESTREAM http://livestream.com/internetsociety/wsis2021-dd <http://livestream.com/internetsociety/wsis2021-dd>* *REAL TIME TEXT https://www.streamtext.net/text.aspx?event=ITU-WSIS <https://www.streamtext.net/text.aspx?event=ITU-WSIS>* *TWITTER #WSIS2021 <http://bit.ly/WSIS2021>* *SIMULCASTS* *https://www.facebook.com/WSISprocess/live <https://www.facebook.com/WSISprocess/live>* *https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/ <https://www.pscp.tv/ISOC_Live/>* *https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive <https://www.twitch.tv/isoclive>* *https://www.facebook.com/isocny/live <https://www.facebook.com/isocny/live>* *ARCHIVE* *https://archive.org/details/wsis2021-dd <https://archive.org/details/wsis2021-dd>* *Permalink* https://isoc.live/13877/ -- -------------------------------------- Joly MacFie +12185659365 -------------------------------------- -

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Digital Methods Summer School 2021 - Amsterdam
by Richard Rogers 23 Mar '21

23 Mar '21

Digital Methods Summer School 2021 5 - 16 July 2021 Online via Zoom or in-person (as circumstances allow) New Media & Digital Culture University of Amsterdam Turfdraagsterpad 9 1012 XT Amsterdam the Netherlands Call for participation. For application information see here <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/SummerSchool2021>. Fake everything: Social media’s struggle with inauthentic activities This year’s Summer School has as its theme the so-called ‘faking’ and detecting of inauthentic users, metrics and content on social media. The uptick in attention to the study of the fake online could be attributed in the first instance to the ‘fake news crisis <https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/craigsilverman/viral-fake-election-new…>’ of 2016, where it was found that so-called fake news outperformed mainstream news on Facebook in the run-up to the U.S. presidential elections that year. That finding also set in motion the subsequent struggle around the occupation of the term from a type of news originating from imposter media organisations or other dubious sources to a ‘populist’ charge against mainstream and elite media <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0163443720906992> that seeks to delegitimate sources found publishing inconvenient or displeasing stories. In its study we have had calls to cease using the term <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0020174X.2019.1685231?casa_tok…>, fake news. There also has been a variety of classification strategies. Both the expansion as well as contraction of the term may be seen in its reconceptualisation by scholars as well as by the platforms themselves. The definitional evolution <https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02003893/> is embodied in such phrasings as ‘junk news <http://comprop.oii.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2017/03/What-Were-M…>’ and ‘problematic information <https://datasociety.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DataAndSociety_Lexiconof…>’, which are broader in their classification <https://misinforeview.hks.harvard.edu/article/research-note-the-scale-of-fa…>, whilst the platforms appear to prefer the terms ‘false’ (Facebook) or ‘misleading’ (Twitter), which are narrower. On the back-end the platform companies also develop responses to these activities. They would like to automate as well as outsource its detection and policing, be it through low-wage content moderators, (volunteer) fact-checking outfits or user-centred collaborative filtering such as Twitter’s ‘birdwatchers <https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2021/introducing-birdwatch-a-…>’, an initiative they say born of societal distaste for a central decision-making authority, found through qualitative interviews. They also take major decisions to label content by world leaders (and indeed have world leader content policies <https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2019/worldleaders2019.html>), which subsequently land platform governance and decision-making in the spotlight. More broadly there has been a rise in the study of ‘computational propaganda <https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/6298>’ and ‘artificial amplification <https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/42884>’ which the platforms refer to as ‘inauthentic behaviour’. These may take the form of bots or trolls; they may be ‘coordinated’ by ‘troll armies’, which has been outlined in Facebook’s regular ‘coordinated inauthentic behaviour reports’. As its head of security policy puts it <https://about.fb.com/news/tag/coordinated-inauthentic-behavior/>, Facebook defines it (in a roomy and plainspeak manner) as ‘people or pages working together to mislead others about who they are or what they are doing’. Occasionally data sets become available (by Twitter or other researchers) that purport to be collections of tweets <https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-were-sharing-3-million-russian-tro…> by these inauthentic, coordinated campaigners, whereupon scholars (among other efforts) seek to make sense of which signals can be employed to detect them. Other types of individuals online also have caught the attention of the platforms as ‘dangerous’ (Facebook), and have been deplatformed <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0267323120922066>, a somewhat drastic step that follows (repeated) violations of platform rules and presumably temporary suspensions. ‘Demonetisation’ also is among the platforms’ repertoire of actions, should these individuals, such as extreme internet celebrities, be turning vitriol into revenue, though there is also the question of which advertisers attach themselves (knowingly or not) to such content. Moreover, there are questions about why certain channels <https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-06906-001> have been demonetised for being 'extremist’. Others ask, is ‘counter-speech’ an alternative to counter-action? On the interface, where the metrics are concerned, there may be follower factories behind high follower and like counts. The marketing industry dedicated to social listening as well as computational researchers have arrived at a series of rules of thumb as well as signal processing that aid in the flagging or detection of the inauthentic. Just as sudden rises in follower counts might indicate bought followers, a sudden decline suggests a platform ‘purge’ of them. Perhaps more expensive followers gradually populate an account, making it appear natural. Indeed, there is the question of which kinds of (purchased) followers are ‘good enough <https://wiki.digitalmethods.net/Dmi/SummerSchool2020GoodEnoughPublics>’ to count and be counted. What is the minimum amount of grooming? Can it be automated or is there always some human touch? Finally, there is a hierarchy in the industry, where Instagram followers are the most sought after, but ‘influencers’ (who market wares there) are often contractually bound to promise that they have not ‘participated in comment pods (group 'liking' pacts), botting (automated interactions), or purchasing fake followers <https://www.wired.com/story/instagram-fake-followers/>'. Organisers: Richard Rogers, Guillen Torres and Esther Weltevrede, Media Studies, University of Amsterdam. Application information at https://www.digitalmethods.net <https://www.digitalmethods.net/> Prof. Richard Rogers Media Studies University of Amsterdam Out now: R. Rogers (2019), Doing Digital Methods, Los Angeles: Sage. Just out: R. Rogers and S. Niederer (eds.) (2020), The Politics of Social Media Manipulation, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.

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looking for researchers on public movements advocating on telecom
by Patricia Aufderheide 22 Mar '21

22 Mar '21

For a Telecommunications Policy Research Conference panel on research about public interest advocacy in telecom, we're looking for people who would like to join! Deadline is end of March, yikes. Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication (she/her/hers) PhD Program Director Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact American University 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW American University, Washington, DC 20016-8017 McKinley Hall 323 @paufder @cmsimpact cmsimpact.org<http://cmsimpact.org> paufder(a)american.edu<mailto:paufder@american.edu> 202-885-2069 office 240-643-4805 mobile Zoom Office Hours: https://american.zoom.us/j/96788556467?pwd=eFNpa2JMWlZQRm5pT1Z0b3RVUlRXQT09 Reclaiming Fair Use--t<https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/022637419X?pf_rd_p=d1f45e03-8b73-4c9a-9be…>he second edition is out, with new stories, quizzes and entirely new chapters on the surprising success of fair use in enabling creativity!

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