What if conspiracy theories were taken to their logical endpoint and put into practice as a form of governance? @mertcanbayar.bsky.social and I explore this question in our new article on the conspiracist theory of power in @cogitatiopag.bsky.social. www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandg...

The open-access article, "The end of trust and safety?: Examining the future of content moderation and upheavals in professional online safety efforts," is available in the Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

The CIP researchers, Rachel Moran-Prestridge, @schafer.bsky.social, @mertcanbayar.bsky.social and @katestarbird.bsky.social, also examined current perspectives of content moderation and broader strategies for maintaining safe digital environments.

In a newly published research article in the Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, a team of @cip.uw.edu researchers interviewed trust and safety professionals and explored upheavals within the T&S industry.

Thrilled to be at the CHI conference this week where PhD student @schafer.bsky.social will present our paper — co-authored w/ Rachel Moran (1st author) & @mertcanbayar.bsky.social — titled, "The End of Trust and Safety?" dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...

This is amazing

There is a right-wing infrastructure online and it got to a point of relevance for policy making and international politics. Nawfal is part of this. Here, you can also find a few quotes from me about our work on “newsbrokers” and how Nawfal is a prime example of a new class of elites around Musk.

More information about suspensions by @bsky.app. 59 accounts are being censored by Turkish authorities due to reasons of “national security” and “public order.” 13 accounts and one post has been censored by @bsky.app. Such accounts cannot be viewed or accessed from Turkey.

CfP is out for the upcoming conference I co-organise with @bilgeyabanci.bsky.social & Sonia Alonso Sáenz de Oger in Bilbao this coming October. Those working on radical right movements, conspiracy theories, and societal violence, send an abstract here 👇 agenda.deusto.es/en/conferenc...

Well, that's disappointing. @bsky.app started banning accounts complying with Turkish government demands. Not the safe haven those who migrated from X was seeking, it seems.

“If Bluesky is going to cave to ‘local laws’ in authoritarian regimes and suspend accounts for political reasons, then what’s the point of migrating from X? @bsky.app @support.bsky.team @moderation.bsky.app — you have to know BETTER.

Very important study here! Congrats @mertcanbayar.bsky.social

🚨 Bluesky’a göç eden Türkiye ahalisi, hoş geldiniz! Komplo teorilerine ilginiz varsa, bu yayında tam da bu inançların siyasal boyutuna dalıyoruz. Kim neden inanıyor? Ve neden bu inançlar güçlü lider arzusu ve otoriter rejim tercihiyle bu kadar iç içe? Akademik ama yormayan bir sohbet 🤞🏼

If you’re into the politics behind conspiracy theories and misinformation, check out this talk I gave at UW Impact. I dig into how these beliefs aren’t just fringe—they’re often tied to calls for stronger presidents and even leanings toward authoritarianism.

Fantastic paper by @mertcanbayar.bsky.social, a postdoc at the UW Center for an Informed Public, examining how conspiracy theories drive political action in the U.S. and Turkey — and revealing key differences between partisan vs. non-partisan conspiracy theories.

🚨 @bsky.app #Türkiye app store’da en çok indirilen uygulama olmuş durumda. Bluesky became the #1st app in #Turkey’s app store! Looks like X’s decision to suspend opposition accounts in favor of Erdoğan is backfiring. How great to see this platform becoming a hub for democratic voices all over 🌍

I am looking for a post-bac (Dartmouth language for a pre-doc) researcher to join our team studying elections and democracy. If you (or someone you know) have expertise in data science or political science, please apply or share this opportunity! polarizationresearchlab.org/hiring/

🚨 My first solo-authored piece is out in Electoral Studies! 👽 I examine when and how conspiracy theories become participatory, increasing political mobilization. Using the United States and Turkey as cases of a most-different-systems design, I explore how conspiracy theories drive political action.

1/ Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul and a key opposition leader, has been detained by Turkish authorities. This is a direct assault on democracy in Turkey. #İmamoğlu #Turkey

Masnick brings the receipts in this detailed “fact-check” of Zuckerberg’s interview by Joe Rogan, where the duo pushed a twisted narrative about the Biden admin pressuring Meta, and ignored how Zuck’s recent moves come after and in response to open threats by Trump. www.techdirt.com/2025/01/16/r...

Two things can be true at once. 1. Meta has long had a real problem of excessive moderation and censorship, mostly caused by its own automated systems, not fact-checkers 2. Zuckerberg is ending fact-checking now because it's the politically expedient thing to do for him and Meta

Meta was by far the biggest funder of fact-checking till this week. Probably, most of these third party fact-checking companies will vanish soon. This is a huge development for the information environment. It was not unexpected since the latest trends in content moderation at Meta or elsewhere.

It may seem strange to folks outside of academia, but there has been a line of prominent research within it arguing that misinformation isn't a problem. This paper pushes back, noting how those arguments often rely on poor definitions & operationalizations of what misinformation is & how it works.

If you aren't subscribed to the @cip.uw.edu News & Insights newsletter you can read the most recent edition here: www.cip.uw.edu/2024/12/19/c... Sign up to receive the next edition: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

In @washingtonpost.com, @pbump.com cites observations from @cip.uw.edu co-founder @katestarbird.bsky.social of the 1954 #Seattle "windshield pitting epidemic" where "there was no rash of unusual damage, just usual damage receiving unusual notice." www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Well I always tell people Santa is real. The priest (St. Nicholas) who inspired the Santa myth is actually from my hometown Demre. The archeologists discovered a tomb beneath Nicholas’ 1500 year old church in 2022 and now they found the tomb which potentially could be St. Nicholas’ tomb 🤞🏼.

We are hiring!! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

Hello Bluesky! We’re the University of Washington’s Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE). Here, we explore the intersection of people, technology, and design to build a more just future. Follow us for updates on research, events, and stories from our community!

🧵We’re proud of our efforts to support multidisciplinary research and the development of educational programming and info literacy resources for use in WA and beyond. In this @cip.uw.edu video, we highlight MisinfoDay, our Loki's Loop educational games and more. Watch: youtu.be/7FTqLhQ1iBQ?...

More of these in this app please! We need more humor!! One of the best things about twitter was the online Turkish humor, let’s build something similar 🙏🏻

@cip.uw.edu’s official account is here as well! ✌🏼

Here is a starter pack for our team at Center for an Informed Public (CIP) at University of Washington. @uwischool.bsky.social

Our team at the @cip.uw.edu has a starter pack. (The CIP will start using its Bluesky account soon, so give us a follow, too.)

Great news! CIP now has a starter pack that showcases our current and past team members! Give them a follow!

Mainstream media has nothing to lose in terms of engagement if they switch from X to Bluesky.

I am curating a list of academics from Turkey and academics who study Turkey. Please dm me or reply to this post so that I can include you!

In fact, they are also creating new podcasts for “government efficiency”

Hoşgeldin medyascope!

Errors in election administration can provide conspiracy theorists a feeling of validation because those errors make a “conspiracy theory more realistic … more believable,” my UW CIP colleague @mertcanbayar.bsky.social said in an interview with @votebeat.org: www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

This morning, I joined @vahitgezer.bsky.social and Efe in a popular Turkish YouTube channel Flu TV. We talked about conspiracy theories, why do people believe them, what are their political functions and more!

📣 Latest from our team on a conspiracy theory from the left.

So true! We often forget the procedural damage that incumbents have already implemented. Such abuse of power looks small, that’s why we call it an erosion not fall of democracies. It is less dramatic, often less news “worthy” but so so important to keep it in the news and our discussions.

Let me introduce myself to the growing community in Bluesky. I am a political scientist. I work on the behavioral and systemic implications of conspiracy theories especially on democracy and democratic attitudes. I play clarinet and I am a fan of Galatasaray🦁. I am also from this gorgeous place⬇️

Term limits perhaps are the most important institution for preventing executive aggrandizement and democratic decline in 21st century. Let’s not forget institutions are not self-enforcing. Everyone should be aware of this possibility not just for Trump but for beyond!

🚨 Alert: elitist view of democracy! This perspective, prominent among political scientists in the 20th century, emphasizes elites and the institutions as the main actors in democracy, rather than the people who actually elect them. I see the value in this, but allow me to be provocative for a sec

I am thinking about starting a series of short substack posts on democratic erosion, specifically how the Turkish experience can inform various stakeholders in the U.S. such as journalists, policymakers, NGOs and the civil society in general. Would that be of interest to the folk around here?