Meet the Team! 🌟

Emma Connolly is a Fellow with the Digital Speech Lab, leading its new initiative in digital civic education. Her academic work focuses on the viral movement patterns of narratives on social media platforms. 📱

💡 Our Research Fellow Emma Connolly previously wrote for the (Mis)Translating Deceit project on why tracking disinformation is so difficult - and what we can do about it.

Read it here: www.mis-translating-deceit.com/project-blog...

Our Research Fellow Emma Connolly wrote in The Conversation about what unites American voters - from fears about technology to shared concerns over democracy.

Read it here: theconversation.com/there-are-ma...

Meet the Team! 🌟

Ricki-Lee Gerbrandt is a Fellow in Platform Governance at UCL’s Digital Speech Lab.

⚖️💻 She is a lawyer and legal scholar working at the intersection of media freedom, freedom of expression, and the governance of digital technologies.

🚨 New Publication 🚨

Digital Speech Lab's Research Fellow Ricki-Lee Gerbrandt & Director Jeffrey Howard ask: Should Social Media Platforms Permit Violating Content that is “Newsworthy”?

Read their article in the Journal of Online Trust and Safety:
👉 tsjournal.org/index.php/jo...

The arrest of comedian Graham Linehan has reignited debate over Britain’s free speech laws.

In The New York Times, Professor Jeffrey Howard pushed back on Nigel Farage’s claim that Britain is “like North Korea”: “The important thing to stress is there’s reasonable room for reasonable disagreement.”

Digital civics is about ethical civic behaviours, citizenship, and democratic engagement in the digital realm.

🧠 At the Digital Speech Lab, we study the governance of online communications - identifying the principles that should guide regulation, balancing free expression with preventing harm.

🚨 The Digital Speech Lab's submission to the UK Parliament’s inquiry on social media, misinformation, and harmful algorithms was cited in the final report!

🏛️ Always great to see our work feed into national policy conversations.

🔗 Read the full report here: committees.parliament.uk/publications...

Meet the Team! 🌟

Jeffrey Howard is Director of the Digital Speech Lab and Professor of Political Philosophy and Public Policy at UCL.

🌐 He leads our DSL work on how digital platforms shape public discourse and producing philosophical guidance on how to improve online content moderation.

Analysis: There are many things American voters agree on
Emma Connolly @uclspeechlab.bsky.social explores the issues, from fears about technology to threats to democracy, that voters on both sides of the political divide agree in The Conversation.

💭Still thinking about the great conversations we had at the Cally Festival last weekend.

🧠Our team guided visitors through the maze of digital media, helping them spy misinformation and understand the algorithms behind their feeds.

Grateful to everyone who joined the conversation!

#CallyFest2025

📸 A few more snaps from Sunday’s Cally Festival!

From curious kids to critical thinkers — we loved seeing so many people try out Likes, Lies, and Algorithms.

Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by to test their digital literacy skills and chat with the team 🙌

#CallyFest2025

📸 Team Digital Speech Lab at Cally Festival 2025!

Our Research Fellow Emma and our Undergraduate Research Assistants Anoushka, Cosima, and Christian helped visitors spot misinformation and explore how algorithms shape what we see online.

🧠 Thanks to everyone who joined us!

#CallyFest2025

📣Catch us at the Cally Festival this Sunday 6th July!

Come find the Digital Speech Lab and try “Likes, Lies, and Algorithms” — a fun, interactive game on spotting misinformation and media algorithms.

🧠 Test your skills, challenge your assumptions, and gain tips for navigating the digital world.