Organised by University of The Arts London (UAL)
The Annual Communications and Media Programme Lecture, given by Professor Shakuntala Banaji.
Facing the difficult challenges of hate and social media head on, Professor Shakuntala Banaji examines violence, disinformation and discrimination in today’s global landscape.
Professor Banaji asks: Is it true that all those who go online receive more hate than those who are unconnected to social media? Are global tech platforms controlling hate adequately through algorithms and AI-based moderation? And is hateful misinformation largely a matter of media illiterate publics and a rise in mobile phones? Connecting half a decade of empirical research into the circulation of disinformation and misinformation about minoritised and racialised groups in countries as disparate as Brazil, India, Myanmar and the U.K. with histories of colonial and caste violence, this lecture examines the intersectional politics of hate online through close textual analysis and interviews with experts in the field, amongst whom are many who encounter most hate online. This evidence is analysed to delineate a clear hierarchy of hate that is both local and international. The underlying political economic and ideological roots of this avalanche of violent disinformation must be understood and subjected to critical analysis to move towards liveable and just futures.
Professor Banaji’s talk will be followed by responses from members of the Digital Cultures and Economies Research Hub and Communications and Media programme team:
- Dr Maitrayee Basu, Senior Lecturer
- Dr Cassian Osborne-Carey, Senior Lecturer
- Dr Zoetanya Sujon, Programme Director
You are warmly invited to join in post event drinks, served from 7:30 pm.
Speakers
Shakuntala Banaji is Professor of Media, Culture and Social Change in the Department of Media and Communications at LSE, where she also serves as Programme Director for the MSc Media, Communication and Development. Shakuntala is widely published in academic journals and is the author of six books. The most recent book, authored with Ramnath Bhat, is Social Media and Hate (2022).
Maitrayee Basu is a Senior Lecturer (Advertising) and her research focuses on transnational activism, representations of marginalised bodies and experiences, and digital identities from the global south. Maitrayee’s draws from ideas, theoretical frameworks, and case studies from a non-Western media context, and her work has been published in Feminist Media Studies, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, and Researches en Communication,
Cassian Osborne-Carey is a Senior Lecturer (Media Communications). Cassian’s current research is on contemporary debates and controversies in politics, media and culture, with specific focus on political extremism, ideology, the ‘Alt-Right’ and digital subcultures. Cassian’s work has been published in Surveillance and Society, and Digital Scholarship in the Humanities.
Zoetanya Sujon is the Programme Director for Communications and Media. Zoetanya’s research interests broadly address the relationships between ‘new’ or emerging technologies and social life, particularly as related to social, cultural and political change. Zoetanya is also widely published and her latest book is The Social Media Age (2021).
Organized by the Digital Cultures and Economies Research Hub and the Communications and Media Programme.
Free and open to all