36 citations · 50 across the 14 of their papers we have counts for
11 papers · 1 filter
City riots fed by transnational and trans-topic web-of-influence
Akshay Verma, Richard Sear, Nicholas J. Restrepo +1
The sudden emergence of large-scale riots in otherwise unconnected cities across the UK in summer 2024 came as a shock for both government officials and citizens. Irrespective of t…
Adaptive link dynamics drive online hate networks and their mainstream influence
Minzhang Zheng, Richard Sear, Lucia Illari +2
Online hate is dynamic, adaptive -- and is now surging armed with AI/GPT tools. Its consequences include personal traumas, child sex abuse and violent mass attacks. Overcoming it w…
Rise of post-pandemic resilience across the distrust ecosystem
Lucia Illari, Nicholas J. Restrepo, Neil F. Johnson
Why is distrust (e.g. of medical expertise) now flourishing online despite the surge in mitigation schemes being implemented? We analyze the changing discourse in the Facebook ecos…
Losing the battle over best-science guidance early in a crisis: Covid-19 and beyond
L. Illari, N. Johnson Restrepo, R. Leahy +3
Ensuring widespread public exposure to best-science guidance is crucial in a crisis, e.g. Covid-19, climate change. Mapping the emitter-receiver dynamics of Covid-19 guidance among…
Mainstreaming of conspiracy theories and misinformation
N. F. Johnson, N. Velasquez, N. Johnson Restrepo +5
Parents - particularly moms - increasingly consult social media for support when taking decisions about their young children, and likely also when advising other family members suc…
Not sure? Handling hesitancy of COVID-19 vaccines
N. F. Johnson, N. Velasquez, R. Leahy +3
From the moment the first COVID-19 vaccines are rolled out, there will need to be a large fraction of the global population ready in line. It is therefore crucial to start managing…
Covid-19 infodemic reveals new tipping point epidemiology and a revised formula
N. F. Johnson, N. Velasquez, O. K. Jha +8
Many governments have managed to control their COVID-19 outbreak with a simple message: keep the effective ' number' to prevent widespread contagion and flatten the curve.…
Hidden order in online extremism and its disruption by nudging collective chemistry
N. F. Johnson, N. Velasquez, P. Manrique +5
We show that the eclectic "Boogaloo" extremist movement that is now rising to prominence in the U.S., has a hidden online mathematical order that is identical to ISIS during its ea…
Hate multiverse spreads malicious COVID-19 content online beyond individual platform control
N. Velásquez, R. Leahy, N. Johnson Restrepo +6
We show that malicious COVID-19 content, including hate speech, disinformation, and misinformation, exploits the multiverse of online hate to spread quickly beyond the control of a…
Health Wars and Beyond: The Rapidly Expanding and Efficient Network Insurgency Interlinking Local and Global Online Crowds of Distrust
N. F. Johnson, N. Velasquez, N. Johnson Restrepo +4
We present preliminary results on the online war surrounding distrust of expertise in medical science -- specifically, the issue of vaccinations. While distrust and misinformation…
Social media cluster dynamics create resilient global hate highways
N. F. Johnson, R. Leahy, N. Johnson Restrepo +3
Online social media allows individuals to cluster around common interests - including hate. We show that tight-knit social clusters interlink to form resilient 'global hate highway…