There is a growing body of research on the use of social media in attempts to manipulate public opinion. But how is this 'computational propaganda' changing? Dr. Samuel Woolley, author of the recently released book The Reality Game: How the Next Wave of Technology Will Break the Truth and What We Can Do About It (Endeavour/Hachette), explores this question by delving into the rise of new strategies for digital deception including “geo-propaganda” and "encrypted propaganda". Crucially, however, he also speaks to what society can do to respond to these new threats. What technologies, techniques, and policies exist to combat problematic uses of emerging technologies? Dr. Woolley combines cutting edge work from his research team at the University of Texas at Austin with past experience as Research Director at the University of Oxford's Computational Propaganda Project to provide solutions to one of the world's pressing issues.
Dr. Samuel Woolley
Author and digital propaganda expert
Dr Samuel C. Woolley is a writer and researcher specialising in the study of automation/AI, politics, persuasion and social media. He is the Research Director of the Digital Intelligence (DigIntel) Lab at the Institute for the Future, a 50-year-old think tank based in the heart of Silicon Valley. Samuel is co-founder and former research director of the Computational Propaganda Project at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He has written articles for a variety of publications, including Wired, Atlantic Monthly, Motherboard, TechCrunch and Slate. His work has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and on BBC’s News at Ten. Samuel’s work has been presented to members of NATO, the US Congress and the UK Parliament.
