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Snurb — Wednesday 24 September 2025 18:17

A Brief History of AlgorithmWatch and Its Fight for Algorithmic Accountability

Politics | Government | Journalism | Internet Technologies | 'Big Data' | Artificial Intelligence | Search Engines | Social Media | Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles | Facebook | SEASON 2025 | Liveblog |

After a week spent in Brussels and at the 25th anniversary of the Center for Internet Research in Aarhus, I’ve now arrived in Hamburg for the inaugural Search Engines and Society (SEASON) 2025 conference, which begins with a keynote by the great Matthias Spielkamp, the founder of German NGO AlgorithmWatch, who is also a partner in our ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society. His keynote reflects on the past ten years of AlgorithmWatch’s efforts to promote algorithmic accountability.

AlgorithmWatch is a non-profit NGO based in Berlin and Zürich, seeking to ensure that algorithms serve to strengthen …

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Snurb — Wednesday 17 September 2025 04:06

A First Talk on a New Journey

Politics | Elections | Government | Polarisation | Travel | Journalism | Social Media | Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles | Facebook | Practice Mapping | Social Media Network Mapping | Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate (ARC Laureate Fellowship) |

I'm travelling again, on a trip that will take me to the 25th anniversary of the Center for Internet Studies in Aarhus, the 20th anniversary of the Zentrum für Medien-, Kommunikations- und Informationsforschung in Bremen, the Search Engines and Society 2025 conference in Hamburg, and the AoIR 2025 conference in Niterói, amongst a few other destinations – but my first stop has been Brussels, where I was delighted to participate in Nathalie van Raemdonck's PhD defence at IMEC-SMIT, and to be the inaugural speaker in a new seminar series of the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies (BrIAS). 

In my …

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Snurb — Wednesday 17 September 2025 03:49

Investigating the Dynamics of Destructive Polarisation in Public Communication (BrIAS 2025)

Politics | Elections | Government | Polarisation | Journalism | Social Media | Echo Chambers and Filter Bubbles | Facebook | Practice Mapping | Social Media Network Mapping | Dynamics of Partisanship and Polarisation in Online Public Debate (ARC Laureate Fellowship) |

BrIAS 2025

Investigating the Dynamics of Destructive Polarisation in Public Communication

Axel Bruns

  • 15 Sep. 2025 – Invited seminar at the Brussels Institute for Advanced Studies, Brussels

Presentation Video

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Snurb — Thursday 17 July 2025 16:12

Influences on Youth Political Engagement in China

Politics | Government | Social Media | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The final session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore starts with Xue Mi, Yang Yang, and Zhen Ran, who begin with an introduction to the platformisation of online communication in China; such platforms also actively collaborate with the Chinese government on political initiatives. Political exposure on Chinese social media platforms could have various effects; this paper explores exposure to information from the Communist Youth League, an organisation for elite youth of 14 to 28 years, in Province A.

The CYL has various mechanisms for connecting within members and broader audiences: coercion, where WeChat is used for membership payments and …

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Snurb — Thursday 17 July 2025 11:52

Understanding the Operations of Global National TV Networks

Politics | Government | Journalism | Industrial Journalism | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The next speakers in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore are Guolin Chen and Xialei Zhang, whose focus is on the global media landscape. Increasingly, we have seen the emergence of state-driven English-language networks, including CGTN from China, RT from Russia, TRT International from Turkey, etc. This goes beyond mere propaganda, which is too simplistic and broad a label; it represents a soft power agenda.

But how do such media construct their imagined communities, both at the national and global level – indeed, how do they advance beyond imagination and towards expressing their vision of these communities …

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Snurb — Wednesday 16 July 2025 19:05

Social Media in the 2024 Kenyan Youth Protests

Politics | Government | Polarisation | Social Media | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The final speaker in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore is Dorothy Njoroge, whose focus is on youth protests in Africa – these have been occurring around the world over the past decades, although African protests have been less visible in global media coverage than similar events in America, Asia, or Europe.

Africa has a very substantial youth population, but very limited socio-economic perspectives for its youth; they are politically marginalised, in a stage of ‘waithood’ where adulthood is suspended due to a lack of economic opportunities, but also better-educated and more technologically literate than earlier generations …

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Snurb — Wednesday 16 July 2025 19:04

Nuanced Nigerian Views about Chinese Soft Power Operations in Africa

Politics | Government | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The next speaker in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore is Mistura Salaudeen, whose focus is on China’s soft power in Africa. Africa has gradually become a key target of Chinese soft power activities, through economic investment, bilateral and multilateral engagement, and other initiatives. Its state media outlets have also established increasingly visible African operations. China also partners with African nations through BRICS, FOCAC, BRI, and the Belt and Road initiative. These initiatives seek to convince Africa that China is a more profitable partner than the west.

This is true for Nigeria, too – a ‘Chinese way …

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Snurb — Wednesday 16 July 2025 19:01

The Shady Megafon Group Orchestrating Pro-Regime Influencers in Hungary

Politics | Government | Polarisation | ‘Fake News’ | Social Media | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The second speaker in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore is Kata Horváth, whose focus is on political influencer videos in the 2024 Hungarian elections. Hungary has now backslid into authoritarianism, and its mainstream media system have been captured by political interests aligned with the Fidesz party; the social media environment is also severely affected by hostile narratives from disinformation influencers, however.

Hostile narratives are designed to create an enemy figure that provides a target for social frustrations, reinforce polarisation, and distract from real issues. Social media advertising is also dominated by the Fidesz party, in part …

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Snurb — Wednesday 16 July 2025 19:00

Responses by Russian State and Exiled Media to Domestic Terrorism

Politics | Government | Journalism | Industrial Journalism | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

My final session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore for today is on global conflicts, and starts with Nicole Marie Klevanskaya, whose focus is on Russian state-controlled and independent television reporting on acts of terrorism. This includes the 2024 terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall entertainment complex, which resulted in at least 140 deaths. This was Russia’s largest terror attack in years, and Putin quickly and incorrectly blamed Ukraine for it.

Russian media consists of independent and regime-critical journalists in exile, and state-controlled domestic media outlets that toe the official line. Studies on this media system often predate …

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Snurb — Wednesday 16 July 2025 17:25

Fact-Checking Approaches in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Politics | Government | Journalism | Industrial Journalism | ‘Fake News’ | IAMCR 2025 | Liveblog |

The final speaker in this session at the IAMCR 2025 conference in Singapore is Hanye Yang, with a comparison of fact-checking operations in China and Hong Kong. Fact-checking has grown substantially in recent years, in response to the rise of mis- and disinformation; there is not a sizeable fact-checking sector in Asia too. But do western models of fact-checking apply here, especially in the context of non-democratic political systems and limited press freedom?

The difference between China and Hong Kong is interesting here, since their media systems diverged under British rule in Hong Kong but are perhaps converging again with …

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Inside the Moral Panic at Australia's 'First of Its Kind' Summit about Kids on Social Media (Crikey)

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Brightest before Dawn (CD, 2011)

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