Our VOX-Pol colleagues, Jonathan Bright and Bharath Ganesh (Oxford Internet Institute), have issued a Call for Papers for Special Issue Responses to Online Extremism.
The intent of this special issue is to ‘map and evaluate emerging public-private partnerships, technologies, and responses to online extremism.’ There are three leading aspects of concern that the issue will discuss:
‘(1) the changing role of content moderation, including taking down content and user accounts, as well as the use of AI techniques to assist;
(2) the increasing focus on “counter-narrative” campaigns and strategic communication; and
(3) the inclusion of global civil society in this agenda.’
Topics of Interest
Papers exploring one or more of the following areas are invited for consideration:
• Content moderation
• Efficacy of user and content takedown (and effects it has on extremist
audiences);
• Navigating the politics of freedom of speech in light of the proliferation of
hateful and extreme speech online;
• Development of content and community guidelines on social media
platforms;
• Effect of government policy, recent inquiries, and civil society on content
moderation practices by the private sector (e.g. recent laws in Germany,
Parliamentary inquiries in the UK);
• Role and efficacy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning in
countering extremism.
• Counter-narrative Campaigns and Strategic Communication
• Effectiveness of counter-narrative campaigns in dissuading potential
extremists;
• Formal and informal approaches to counter narratives;
• Emerging governmental or parastatal bodies to produce and disseminate
counter-narratives;
• Involvement of media and third sector in counter-narrative programming;
• Research on counter-narrative practitioners;
• Use of technology in supporting counter-narrative production and
dissemination.
• Inclusion of Global Civil Society
• Concentration of decision-making power between government, private
sector, and civil society actors;
• Diversity of global civil society actors involved in informing content
moderation and counter-narrative campaigns;
• Extent to which inclusion of diverse civil society/third sector actors
improves content moderation and counter-narrative campaigns;
• Challenges and opportunities faced by global civil society in informing
agendas to respond to online extremism.
All those interested are required to submit 6000-8000 word papers that look at one or more of the issues raised in the call. Submissions should be made
through Policy & Internet’s manuscript submission system. Interested authors are encouraged to contact Jonathan Bright (jonathan.bright@oii.ox.ac.uk) and
Bharath Ganesh (bharath.ganesh@oii.ox.ac.uk) to check the suitability of their paper.
The special issue will proceed according to the following timeline:
Paper submission: 30 October 2018
First round of reviews: January 2019
Revisions received: March 2019
Final review and decision: May 2019
Publication (estimated): December 2019