SSP Wednesday Seminar with speaker Tamar Mitts, Columbia University

The regulation of social media platforms has become one of the most pressing and contested global policy issues. From combating misinformation and hate speech, to terrorist propaganda and other harmful material, debates over how to make online platforms safe have taken center stage. Despite recent efforts to combat online extremism, many violent actors still successfully operate on social media platforms, disseminating propaganda, recruiting supporters, and inspiring violence. How can these actors––who face an increasingly disruptive information environment––continue to use the internet effectively to advance their cause? In this presentation, Prof. Mitts will outline a theory that explains the mechanisms by which extremist actors build resilience to content moderation by focusing, in particular, on a multi-platform environment. Exploring data on militant groups’ online networks, archives of banned terrorist propaganda, and platforms’ enforcement actions, Prof Mitts will discuss how when social media platforms differ in their content moderation policies, extremists adapt by exploiting inconsistencies in platform rules, and multi-platform environments allow violent actors to remain a threat.