NEW: My Udemy course 'Propaganda & Disinformation for Beginners' has helped students in 26 countries worldwide strengthen their armour against disinformation since it launched 2 years ago. Techniques Cambridge Analytica used to secretly profile millions have become a vastly profitable industry.. /1

"My Boyfriend is AI": A Computational Analysis of Human-AI Companionship in Reddit's AI Community Pat Pataranutaporn Sheer Karny Chayapatr Archiwaranguprok Constanze Albrecht Auren Liu Pattie Mats arxiv.org/abs/2509.11391

We will host a discussion about systemic & downstream effects of para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit meetings. From the article: "...they were in love with their chatbot...roleplaying marriage, ...and even pregnancies." futurism.com/future-socie...

A new paper shows how social media accelerates extremism by flooding users with emotionally charged, divisive content that algorithms naturally amplify, making extremist narratives far more visible, engaging, and persuasive than they would be otherwise.

This is one reason why I have been telling large investors that investments in tech (e.g., crypto, AI, platforms) likely have greater systemic risk than they think. www.nbcnews.com/tech/rcna245...

A little retrospective can be helpful at times to work out what has been happening and what was knowable. Let's travel back in time to 2017 (~8 years ago) when I was lead author on a paper about the post-truth world. doi.org/10.1016/j.ja... 1/6

“…my gut feeling is it's more about identity than faith.” www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Meta buried 'causal' evidence of social media harm, US court filings allege reut.rs/48eKxnO

Two common reasons why people fall for disinformation: 1) anxiety about uncertainty, & 2) anxiety about social status and identity One potential intervention is to engage the anxiety, rather than the message, and offer safe alternative community. m.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHg...

Nobel award winner Maria Ressa: “I want to tell you why I remain optimistic…It’s because the man who tried to jail me…was arrested in March this year, and he’s now at The Hague for crimes against humanity. So you see: if you keep doing your jobs and collaborate together, impunity ends.”

Musician Chris Daughtry to his fans: “…if you’re not seeing news being posted on our official page or my page,…then it’s not real. Some of this (AI-rendered) stuff is so ridiculous that I’m baffled that people would ask if this is real.” www.instagram.com/reel/DRAg4Z_...

From the Cambridge News. Parasocial is the word of the year. We will be discussing these relationships at the next Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

A new simple framework for potential disinformation assessments on narratives. I think some anti-censorship sentiment could be better articulated as the fundamental concerns noted in red regarding trust the assessment process.

I recently testified in EU Parliament that “Fines on billionaires and fines on big tech companies and multinational corporations will do almost nothing for behavioural change.” @reuters.com @tomhals.bsky.social www.reuters.com/world/zucker...

A new simple framework for potential disinformation assessments on narratives. I think some anti-censorship sentiment could be better articulated as the fundamental concerns noted in red regarding trust the assessment process.

Cambridge wildlife

I recently testified in EU Parliament that “Fines on billionaires and fines on big tech companies and multinational corporations will do almost nothing for behavioural change.” @reuters.com @tomhals.bsky.social www.reuters.com/world/zucker...

SFO announces investigation into $28 million crypto scheme The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) launches first major cryptocurrency investigation into suspected fraud. www.gov.uk/government/n...

This is an...interesting...economic theory: "...the only way...to prevent America from going bankrupt is AI and robotics... Robots like Optimus will make working "optional" in the future... We'll have...universal high income," Musk said. www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-sa...

My work on counterpublics and related topics demos.co.uk/research/ver...

French President Emmanuel Macron: “…Please, don’t believe one second on the so-called free speech agenda. For me, we don’t speak about free speech when the algorithm is hidden and in the hands of very few players. …This is the Wild West, not free speech.” x.com/EmmanuelMacr...

French President Emmanuel Macron: “…Please, don’t believe one second on the so-called free speech agenda. For me, we don’t speak about free speech when the algorithm is hidden and in the hands of very few players. …This is the Wild West, not free speech.” x.com/EmmanuelMacr...

From the Cambridge News. Parasocial is the word of the year. We will be discussing these relationships at the next Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

The State of #Democracy 2025: Fake news, lack of accountability, extremism and corruption seen as top threats to democracy across Europe and the US www.ipsos.com/en/the-state...

In light of the assault on American science by its own government that launched in January this year, we published the Anti-Autocracy Handbook in June to provide some guidance to scholars about how to respond to an emerging autocracy. The handbook is available at: sks.to/autocracy. 1/n 1/4

The video discusses issues across the political spectrum. My assessment also dates back to the lack of accountability during the bank crisis, across jurisdictions, which populist-opportunists still leverage today to undermine democracy, per their own public comments.

More evidence to support my assessment that we are in the most acute global information and accountability crisis of my lifetime. I have testified in European Parliament to how global crime syndicates leverage crypto and meme platforms. @60minutes.bsky.social youtu.be/fwcHn1GSZwo

For general information about the tactics behind Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), please see: anti-slapp.org/what-is-a-sl...

More evidence to support my assessment that we are in the most acute global information and accountability crisis of my lifetime. I have testified in European Parliament to how global crime syndicates leverage crypto and meme platforms. @60minutes.bsky.social youtu.be/fwcHn1GSZwo

Should you ask an AI chatbot what to vote for? No. I spoke to @videnskab.dk about this ahead of the local elections in Denmark and why the technology is not fit for purpose and completely non-transparent. videnskab.dk/teknologi/bo...

The Cambridge Disinformation Summit call for papers has now closed.

The Cambridge Disinformation Summit call for papers has now closed.

We will host a discussion about systemic & downstream effects of para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit meetings. From the article: "...they were in love with their chatbot...roleplaying marriage, ...and even pregnancies." futurism.com/future-socie...

We will be talking about the potential systemic and spillover risks from para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

“The government defines SLAPPs actions as “an abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one’s opponent via improper means”.” www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/busin...

This article helps illustrate why we will host a discussion about the downstream effects of para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

California universities get injunction relief against the U.S. federal administration’s encroachment on academic independence. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71360...

“Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods…the social media giant internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day” www.reuters.com/investigatio...

“The government defines SLAPPs actions as “an abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one’s opponent via improper means”.” www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/busin...

California universities get injunction relief against the U.S. federal administration’s encroachment on academic independence. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71360...

We will be talking about the potential systemic and spillover risks from para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

This article helps illustrate why we will host a discussion about the downstream effects of para- and machine-social relationships at the April Cambridge Disinformation Summit.

As Dr. Emma L. Briant, an expert in propaganda and information warfare—whose research played a key role in exposing the Cambridge Analytica–Facebook data misuse scandal—puts it: “There is a lucrative industry in character assassination for hire...”

Final call for papers for the 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit. Research on systemic risks from technology that affects information streams or the amplification or monetization of disinformation Please see the Call for Papers link at the Summit’s website. www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...

I sense that the current information pollution problem manifests from a number of higher order problems. Here is a partial list. Four meta problems that amplify the effects of disinformation. My remarks to U.S. & UK lawmakers in May. Full thoughts here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/addres...

When people falsely claim that we are doing censorship work, I think, in many cases, what they are trying to do is stop us from trying to understand the harms they are trying to push...using bad information. m.youtube.com/watch?v=kFoO...

I sense that the current information pollution problem manifests from a number of higher order problems. Here is a partial list. Four meta problems that amplify the effects of disinformation. My remarks to U.S. & UK lawmakers in May. Full thoughts here: www.linkedin.com/pulse/addres...

When people falsely claim that we are doing censorship work, I think, in many cases, what they are trying to do is stop us from trying to understand the harms they are trying to push...using bad information. m.youtube.com/watch?v=kFoO...

Final call for papers for the 2026 Cambridge Disinformation Summit. Research on systemic risks from technology that affects information streams or the amplification or monetization of disinformation Please see the Call for Papers link at the Summit’s website. www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/events/cambr...

Our colleagues spoke about the threats to academic research faculty at the last Cambridge Disinformation Summit. We have increased threat awareness and resilience for our community as well. youtu.be/-M9lhTm-7f0