Research articles on INFORMATION & DATA

Algorithmic processing of personal data is challenging the role of consent. Which are the necessary adaptations to maintain this important tool in data protection regulation?

This paper examines how Google Search ranked 29 junk news domains between 2016 and 2019, finding that SEO — rather than paid advertising — is the most important strategy for generating discoverability via Google Search. Google has taken several steps to combat the spread of disinformation on Search, and these strategies have been largely successful at limiting the discoverability of junk news.

This article identifies factors that could explain the increasing pressure to regulate Québec’s political parties’ uses of digital voter information.

NationBuilder is a global, nonpartisan political technology firm that sells to anyone. Through a review of its use, this paper questions whether NationBuilder should sell to extremists, spammers or frauds.

Is the “European approach” an adequate response to the challenges of disinformation and political manipulation, especially in election periods?

This paper analyses the spread of misinformation in the context of 2018 Brazilian elections. We give a general overview of the Brazilian political context, its media ecosystem and the weaponisation of the country’s most popular messaging app, WhatsApp, as a political persuasion tool. The current architecture of the platform does not allow, once appropriated for purposes of election campaigns, users to notice or become aware that they are being monitored and managed.

Discussing three factors that characterise the activities of political campaigners, this article demonstrates variations in who is using data in campaigns, what the sources of campaign data are, and how data informs communication.