The year 2024 has been dubbed “the global election year,” with more than 60 countries going to the polls this year. Against this backdrop, a panel of scholars discuss democratic backsliding, political protest, mis- and disinformation, and increased levels of election-related violence in India, Mexico, and other parts of the world.

Report author Paul Barrett, of NYU’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, speaks with Tech Policy Press’s Justin Hendrix about how the use of social media can lead to political violence and how social media companies, government, and users can reduce the likelihood that virtual speech will lead to real-world violence.

Amid a volatile election season, the report ‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’: How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence outlines the steps social media companies like Facebook, TikTok and Telegram can take to reduce their contribution to increasing levels of political intimidation and violence across the U.S. and around the world.  […]

As part of the Violence, Politics, & Democracy initiative, HFG will host a series of live and virtual discussions with scholars and practitioners to advance understanding of antidemocratic threats in the United States and other mature democracies.

On Oct. 17, HFG hosted a virtual discussion with Paul M. Barrett, author of ‘We Want You To Be A Proud Boy’: How Social Media Facilitates Political Intimidation and Violence, who discussed the report and steps that social media companies can take to reduce their contribution to increasing levels of political intimidation and violence across the U.S. and around the world. 

The year 2024 has been dubbed “the global election year,” with more than 60 countries, representing half of the world’s population, going to the polls this year. Over the last decade, political scientists, journalists, and other observers have noted a rise in dissatisfaction with democracy in many mature democratic systems and an attendant rise in […]