Excited to announce that I'm a speaker in MIT Media Lab's upcoming AHA Seminar Series! I'll be presenting on @blackskyweb.xyz's moderation and how we are navigating the nuances around automated content moderation that is community-governed

AHA Seminar Series: Rishi Balakrishnan | Who Moderates? Community Control of Automated Content Moderation – MIT Media Lab

Join us for our online seminar series event hosted by MIT Media Lab's Advancing Humans with AI (AHA) research program! This event features Rishi…

media.mit.edu

I wrote this little explainer! It's geared toward those with NO context about the Atmosphere and who have never touched code. Great for 🌸 linking in the replies when people are like "wats atmoshere?" 🌸 sending to people you love 🌸 linking in blog posts when you mention the Atmosphere in passing

Leaflet@leaflet.pub · last wk.

Bluesky and Leaflet are in the Atmosphere!!! ...wtf does does that mean? Here's a little explainer, written for everyone. No tech experience or prior knowledge required. All you need is 4 minutes or less :D

I have a new short essay out in LIMN's special issue This Is Not a Platform titled "Platform Obscurantism: The Hidden Substrates of Machine Learning." ChatGPT is a platform. That may be the least interesting thing about it. limn.press/article/plat... 🧵

Platform Obscurantism - Limn

ChatGPT is a platform. The chatbot is infrastructure. Thousands of applications now build on OpenAI’s application programming interface, creating a dependent ecosystem of developers, startups, and ent...

limn.press

Started an exciting 4-week conference/research trip on a turbulent note, due to some unplanned, unpleasant encounters. Just as I was getting angrier and crankier, I went back to reading Reparative Media (Escoffery, 2026) 1/2

Interim update on the Group concept-mapping study for the Decentered Social project. decenteredsocial.info/1dyd We are now sorting and rating statements from the brainstorming phase. If you have the capacity and are keen to participate, please use this link to join: forms.office.com/r/mMbjjvXgXB

Rudy is doing spoken word in this video. 😂

New_ Public@newpublic.org · 2mo ago

Here’s @rude1.blacksky.team, Founder and CEO of @blackskyweb.xyz and Excellence Award Winner of the #OpenSocialAwards. Blacksky is a beacon of choice, community, and agency in a bleak social media landscape. They’re building the tools they need and sharing them with everyone.

An analysis from great colleagues and me on the politics behind Trump's #UFCFreedom250 event. theconversation.com/the-white-ho...

The White House UFC event is a perfect storm of fight culture and US politics

Joe Rogan calls it a ‘gimmick’ but Donald Trump says it will be ‘great for America’. Welcome to the White House UFC event.

theconversation.com

Leading researchers in digital governance & AI ethics from ADM+S & the Centre of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics have released a new policy brief in response to the Australian Government's Issues Paper on a proposed Digital Duty of Care for online services admscentre.org/3ShnlAV

Amplifying this @blackskyweb.xyz : We’re publishing a zine and want to use it to highlight the vibrancy of our community. If you’re a visual artist in the Blacksky community we’d love to ft. your art! Send an email to hello@blacksky.app with your name, your handle, and your artwork attached

I made this little A–Z glossary for fun as a playful resource for introducing children to technology, computing, and the digital world. www.dangnguyen.digital/post/a-z-of-...

A-Z of tech for kids (p.1)

I made this little A–Z glossary for fun as a playful resource for introducing children to technology, computing, and the digital world.It is not meant to be technically exhaustive, but to give kids si...

dangnguyen.digital

Is digital sovereignty the silver bullet that can solve world problems and make online communication safe, equitable, and truly beneficial? In this Conversation article, Dan Angus and I unpack what “digital sovereignty” really means for everyday users of digital technology. tinyurl.com/5eya2d8p 1/5

Nearly everything we use online is owned by big tech. There’s a better way forward

Having digital autonomy is more important than ever, and the European Union is showing how it can be done.

tinyurl.com

We often hear about shiny new technologies like Google's AI Overviews before we even begin using them. @shirweinbrand.bsky.social, @antmandan.bsky.social and I, examine the evolving public discourse around AI Overviews. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... @admscentre.org.au @qutdmrc.bsky.social

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

Shir Weinbrand@shirweinbrand.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Excited to share that my article, co-authored with @ashwinnag.bsky.social & @antmandan.bsky.social, is out in Discourse & Communication! If you work in digital media, AI, journalism, SEO, or just spend a lot of time Googling things, you'll want to give it a read.

Hello friends, it's me again. This research study is still open, and we are happy to onboard more participants. ~ Join our asynchronous brainstorming to share your thoughts on decentralised social platforms Signup form here forms.office.com/r/mMbjjvXgXB Project details here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

Applications are open for #SICSS-Melbourne 2026! Join a cohort of Australian PhDs & ECRs for 2 weeks of hands-on training in doing social science with digital platform data tools. 🗓️ June 22–July 3 ⏳ Apply by 30 April! 🔗 sicss.io/2026/melbour... @ardc.edu.au @admscentre.org.au

Whether you use, develop, or moderate decentralised social media, your ideas for making these spaces safer and more welcoming matter. Join our ongoing asynchronous brainstorm and share your thoughts. Signup form here forms.office.com/r/mMbjjvXgXB Project details here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

Re-posting this again in case it has not come to your attention. Also looking forward to hearing about the cool stuff happening at #ATmosphereConf See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

Ashwin Nagappa@ashwinnag.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Are you active on platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, or Eurosky? Please consider participating in an asynchronous brainstorming activity to share your suggestions to make them safer. See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx @qutdmrc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au

excited to announce our new platform for content moderation and community management at scale. this replaces ozone for us. built by @rishkebab.blacksky.team hand in hand with our T&S team.

Blacksky Algorithms@blackskyweb.xyz · 5mo ago

Blacksky is excited to announce Acorn, a platform for growing and managing communities on decentralized infrastructure. blackskyweb.xyz/introducing-...

Re-posting this one again in case you missed it earlier. Please consider signing up for the study. Sign up here forms.office.com/r/mMbjjvXgXB Project details here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx

Ashwin Nagappa@ashwinnag.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Are you active on platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, or Eurosky? Please consider participating in an asynchronous brainstorming activity to share your suggestions to make them safer. See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx @qutdmrc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au

Are you active on platforms like Mastodon, Bluesky, Pixelfed, or Eurosky? Please consider participating in an asynchronous brainstorming activity to share your suggestions to make them safer. See project details and sign up here tinyurl.com/44adp9cx @qutdmrc.bsky.social @admscentre.org.au

When it comes to Internet governance, the age of innocence is over. The question isn't whether states govern the net—they do. It's whether power can be made predictable, reciprocal & bound. That's the only narrow path forward, says Konstantinos Komaitis.

Internet Protocols, Power and the Rebirth of the Border

Connectivity is political, and governance must accept that fact, writes Konstantinos Komaitis. The age of innocence is over, and the age of empires is emerging.

buff.ly

Hello World I wanted to share an update on my project, supported by the AXA Research Fund axa-research.org postdoctoral fellowship. The project aims to identify the optimal characteristics of decentralised social media platforms that foster prosocial digital spaces (promote safe communication) 1/8

AXA Research Fund

<div>Supporting Scientific Research to Protect What Matters</div>

axa-research.org

It feels like we have been living in 2020 again, surrounded by grief, anger, and despair. However, I want to share what gives me hope that one day we will move beyond the pandemic and the infodemic. 1/3

Scientists have developed a life-saving antivenom from the deadliest venom. Don't think PR agencies, ad firms or tech giants could do the same. But they are apparently in charge of social media safety. Social scientists have better answers to make social media a safer space, if only we are heard

Crikey@crikey.com.au · 8mo ago

Exclusive | The pitch deck offered brands an “exclusive partnership opportunity at the UN powered by NOVA and 36 Months”, included a signed letter from Anthony Albanese, and asked for $150,000 in sponsorship fees.

I’ve published a new piece in IPS Journal (in English and German) on Australia's social media age-ban, a policy that disconnects millions of young people from key online spaces while giving us no real way to measure what it achieves. www.ips-journal.eu/work-and-dig...

A poor answer to a complex problem

Australia’s social media ban won’t protect teens, but it shows who holds power. Europe should make sure to choose a different path

ips-journal.eu

In case you hadn’t seen it yet, this is just brilliant, brilliant news – very excited for our wonderful early-career researchers at the @qutdmrc.bsky.social. #AANZCA25 folks, you might be interested in hearing about these projects too…

PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.

AI chatbots are encouraging conspiracy theories – new research

If you interact with chatbots about conspiracy theories, research shows you can can easily fall down the rabbit hole.

theconversation.com

My @qutdmrc.bsky.social colleague @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social has a great new piece in @aunz.theconversation.com about what happened when we asked AI chatbots about conspiracy theories. The results were … mixed. ☹️

QUT Digital Media Research Centre@qutdmrc.bsky.social · 8mo ago

PhD researcher Kate FitzGerald has a new article out in The Conversation today looking at generative AI chatbots and conspiracy theories.

Congratulations to ADM+S researchers awarded grants under the 2025 Queensland–Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting projects that advance research in the responsible use of AI in news personalisation and online search. Read more bit.ly/4ngSRcc

ADM+S researchers awarded 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Grants - ADM+S Centre

ADM+S researchers have been awarded more than $100,000 under the 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting research in the use of AI in news personalisation and online search.

bit.ly

What happens when the only road to your town is privately owned—and they change the rules overnight? In this concluding post of our Search Experience blog series, we (@kkasianenko.bsky.social, @olegzendel.bsky.social and I) explore the impact of AI on the information ecosystem.

ADM+S Centre@admscentre.org.au · 10mo ago

Researchers from the Australian Search Experience examine a crucial aspect of the information ecosystem: information producers and their reciprocal relationship with search engines Read more http://bit.ly/4n41xme #SEO #GenAI #SearchEngines

@guangnanrio.bsky.social, Uttama Barua, George Gyamfi, Shima Saniei and I have published an article piloted at SICSS-Sydney (organised by @olgarithmic.bsky.social @sssharc.bsky.social). In it, we show the breakdown of trust in global philanthropy. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

“My first thought was Africa”: Gates as a floating signifier in global COVID-19 philanthropy discussions on X

Philanthropists play an important role in tackling global crises. As observed in scholarly studies and acknowledged by philanthropists themselves, the…

sciencedirect.com