polarisation

By Michele Grossman Like many other Western liberal democracies, Australia is currently experiencing a range of challenges to both the stability and sanctity of democratic structures and institutions and the beliefs and values that underwrite them. Threats to democracies are nothing new – they have existed for as long as democracies themselves. However, faced with ...

By Annelies Pauwels and Maarten van Alstein Polarisation comes in different forms. An important distinction can be made between ideological and affective polarisation. Ideological (or issue-based) polarisation refers to the sharpening of opinions, positions or believes on a specific issue within a group of like-minded people. The group moves from moderate towards more extreme views on the ...

This Blog post is the final—the first is HERE, the second HERE, and the third HERE—in a four-part series of article summaries from the EU H2020-funded BRaVE project’s  First Monday Special Issue exploring societal resilience to online polarisation and extremism. Read the full article HERE [Ed.].  By Vivian Gerrand While algorithmic design is one critical component of supporting prosocial resilience to online ...

By Vivian Gerrand The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified calls for urgent action to mitigate some of the worst harms societies are experiencing as a consequence of time spent immersed in social media environments. During the lockdowns, this immersion has gone from partial to almost total. While social media enables information to travel fast, it allows disinformation to spread ...