Dear AoIR community,

We are delighted to announce the publication of our new special issue in New Media & Society, centred on the *contextual* nature of violence on digital platforms. Edited by Tom Divon, Martin Lundqvist, and myself, the issue intervenes in ongoing debates about platform governance, harm, power, visibility, and circulation by arguing that violence cannot be understood in isolation from the infrastructures, cultural narratives, governance regimes, and local dynamics through which it emerges.

Our issue brings together 10 papers that collectively showcase how attending to context transforms our understanding of the platformization of violence, offering conceptual, empirical, and methodological pathways for advancing research in this rapidly evolving field. Together, the papers travel across platforms and practices, from TikTok and Twitch to internet shutdowns in Sri Lanka and sites of participatory warfare, engaging with phenomena such as image-based abuse, memetic misogyny, conspiracy imaginaries, and self-documented terrorism.

The issue is available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/28/4

Table of contents:

Morales, E., Divon, T., & Lundqvist, M. (2026). Context matters: Understanding the platformization of violence. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1395–1411. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261420823
Cabanzo Valencia, M., & Guntrum, L. G. (2026). Race, ethnicity, and technology-facilitated violence: The experience of activists in Chocó, Colombia. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1412–1436. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251344286
de Keulenaar, E., & Alves dos Santos, M., Jr. (2026). Normative dislocation: When platforms moderate without memory. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1437–1463. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251364814
Petersen, L. N., & Johansen, M. B. (2026). The violence of online conspiracy theories. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1464–1481. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251336431
Eriksson Krutrök, M., & Mitchell, J. (2026). Memeing the moniker: The stickiness of gang myths in Swedish news legacy media and TikTok. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1482–1503. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251338507
Ryder, C. (2026). Affordance folklore: Truth, community and visibility during Sri Lanka's Internet shutdowns. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1504–1523. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251357264
Morse, T., & Altaratz, D. (2026). Witnessing carnage: Self-documented terrorism and the moral challenges of decentralized digital platforms. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1524–1549. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251370967
Harris, B. C., Tran, C. H., & Persaud, C. J. (2026). Contextual governance & androcentric hegemony on Twitch.tv. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1550–1570. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251370965
Henry, N., Vowles, C., & Beard, G. (2026). "Doing gender": A digital ethnography of image-based abuse perpetration. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1571–1591. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251356604
Özkula, S. M., & Prieto-Blanco, P. (2026). Just a meme? The role of context in mythologies of memetic misogyny. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1592–1618. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251396942
Chonka, P. (2026). (De)constructing research 'expertise' in transnational participatory warfare. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1619–1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251357269

We hope our issue offers insights that can traverse across contexts and be useful to the AoIR community and beyond. We also warmly welcome any questions or reflections it might spark.

Warm regards,

Esteban Morales, Tom Divon, and Martin Lundqvist

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Esteban Morales Velásquez
Assistant Professor / Media and Digital Cultures
Centre for Media and Journalism Studies
University of Groningen
https://www.esteban-morales.com