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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Professor Jeff Howard joins The Political Theory Review podcast to discuss his new book "Setting Fire to Reason: the Ethics of Free Speech". Listen to the episode here: www.podomatic.com/podcasts/the...

podomatic.com

Jeffrey Howard - Setting Fire to Reason

A conversation with Jeffrey Howard about his recent book, "Setting Fire to Reason: the Ethics of Free Speech" (Princeton UP).

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

PUBLICATION DAY 🇺🇸 📚 We're thrilled that Jeff Howard's Setting Fire to Reason: The Ethics of Free Speech is out in the U.S. today with Princeton University Press. Interested in grappling with the significance of free speech in the digital age, and where its limits properly lie? Check it out!

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Reposted by UCL Digital Speech Lab

UCL Political Science @uclspp.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Some posts promote violence, misinformation, or self-harm. Is removal always the right response? Tune in to this week's episode of UCL Uncovering Politics, where we hear from Jeffrey Howard, Professor of Political Philosophy and Public Policy: buff.ly/SjAsdx3 #SocialMedia #FreeSpeech #Moderation

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

New paper alert! 🚨 Prof Jeffrey Howard & Dr Beatriz Kira have published a new paper on how social media platforms respond to harmful content - and how necessity and proportionality apply to online moderation. Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.com

Remove or Reduce: Demotion, Content Moderation, and Human Rights - Law and Philosophy

How should social media platforms respond to harmful speech? For some content, platforms respond by removing it. But for other content, platforms allow the speech to be posted, but reduce its distribu...

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Leif Wenar (Stanford) joins Philosophically Speaking to explore the doctrine of effective altruism, explaining why it leads us astray when thinking about our duties to the global poor and to the future.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Renée Jørgensen (Michigan) joins Philosophically Speaking to explore the ethics of using big data to allocate police attention, and why doing so is morally questionable.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Cécile Laborde (Oxford) joins Philosophically Speaking to ask who should be protected by discrimination law, and whether the socially advantaged can be victims of wrongful discrimination.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

New publication! 📣 Digital Speech Lab's Doctoral Research Affiliate Alex Ruani has produced a widely discussed new study introducing a tool to assess the harm of nutrition misinformation - not just whether it’s true or false. Read the study here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.com

Development and validation of a tool for detecting misinformation risk in diet, nutrition, and health content (Diet-MisRAT) - Scientific Reports

Misinformation in diet and nutrition is recognised as a major public health threat, with the potential to misguide dietary choices and contribute to preventable harm. To address this, we developed a M...

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Listen to the episode here: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/d... Read the paper at: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

podcasts.apple.com

“Don’t Ask That!” with Sam Berstler

Podcast Episode · Philosophically Speaking · 4 February · 42m

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Dr Sam Berstler (MIT) joins Philosophically Speaking to explore how merely asking questions can sometimes be morally wrong, violating our rights to privacy.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Later this week: Jeff Howard will join a debate at the Oxford Union on the proposition “This House Would End Private Ownership of Social Media Platforms." Find out more at: oxford-union.org

oxford-union.org

Home

The Oxford Union Society Home

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Prof Jeremy Waldron (NYU) joins Philosophically Speaking to discuss what’s so bad about lying - and why certain lies are distinctively destructive to our political life.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

🎙️The Digital Speech Lab's new podcast Philosophically Speaking takes listeners through some moral and political dilemmas shaping public life today. Co-hosts Jeffrey Howard and Emily McTernan speak with leading philosophers about their work - and what it means for the ethical challenges of our time.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

We’re pleased to share a new contribution to the Philosophical Glossary of AI 📘 Digital Speech Lab's Prof Jeff Howard has co-authored an entry on content moderation, alongside Dr Sarah Fisher. Read it here: aiglossary.co.uk/2026/01/16/c...

aiglossary.co.uk

Content Moderation – The Philosophical Glossary of AI

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

🎙️Philosophically Speaking Podcast Presenting the best new scholarship in political and social philosophy, featuring lively conversations with leading thinkers. Join hosts Jeffrey Howard and Emily McTernan, exploring the thorniest ethical questions of our time. feeds.transistor.fm/philosophica...

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Reposted by UCL Digital Speech Lab

Ethics Untangled podcast @ethicsuntangled.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

Feels like a good time to be releasing this episode featuring Jeffrey Howard of @uclspeechlab.bsky.social. How should social media platforms regulate AI-Generated Content? (Spoiler: it's not by allowing people to use AI to create non-consensual sexualised images.) www.buzzsprout.com/2113237/epis...

buzzsprout.com

53. How should social media platforms regulate AI-generated content? With Jeffrey Howard - Ethics Untangled

AI-generated content is a familiar and increasingly prevalent feature of social media. Users post text, video, audio and images which have been created by AI, sometimes being clear that this is what t...

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

🌐Our Digital Civics Initiative delivers interactive workshops in schools and provides digital literacy training to support responsible, informed online participation - all to help young people navigate their engagement with content online 📱 Find out more: www.digitalspeechlab.com/digital-civics

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

The Digital Civics team have been busy this week delivering sessions in three schools across London on disagreeing well and tackling mis and disinformation.📚💬 A great week of activity - more on this work to come.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

🚨 New from The Economist Britain’s controversial experiment in regulating the internet: Our Director, Professor Jeff Howard, is quoted - noting that identity/age checks for adult-content sites can be a proportionate and reasonable step for online safety. 🔐📱

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

🧠💻 The recent Curriculum Review highlights the need to strengthen digital and media literacy in schools - including tackling mis/disinformation and understanding the impact of AI. Our Digital Civics team is already leading the way through hands-on workshops with schools. 📚✨

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

She holds an MA in International Security from the University of Leicester and professional qualifications in Leadership, and Data Science. 🎓

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

💡 Prior to this role, Emma worked as a research assistant at Nottingham Trent University, and works in a consultant capacity on the undergraduate International Relations module at the Open University.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Emma has published with The Conversation UK and the International Journal of Social Media and Online Communities and The Journal of Information Technology and Politics. She has a PhD in Politics and International Studies. 📚

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

📊 She is particularly interested in developing innovative methodologies for exploring viral spread, and has experience in working with X, Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

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. 📱

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

Her work highlights how language, culture, and platform design shape the way false information spreads. @m-deceit.bsky.social #DigitalCivics #Disinformation #Research #MediaLiteracy

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

💡 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...

mis-translating-deceit.com

Why is tracking disinformation so difficult—and what can we do about it? - (Mis)Translating Deceit

Emma Connolly explores why tracking mis and disnformation is challenging as it moves across platforms, and why it is vital its circulation is mitigated.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

At Digital Speech Lab, Emma’s work contributes to our broader focus on digital civics - helping people understand how false information spreads online and how digital platforms shape public trust. @uk.theconversation.com #DigitalCivics #Misinformation #Democracy #Research

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

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...

theconversation.com

There are many things American voters agree on, from fears about technology to threats to democracy

Americans of both parties are worried about Trump having a third term, and have other shared concerns.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

🎓 Ricki-Lee holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School, a Juris Doctor (J.D) from the University of Calgary and a BA (Hon) in Political Science from Western University.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Currently completing her PhD in Law at the University of Cambridge, Ricki-Lee’s dissertation argues journalists’ digital safety is central to media freedom and proposes solutions for tackling online abuse & disinformation campaigns targeting journalists through regulation of social media platforms.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

🌐 Ricki-Lee’s scholarly work investigates extreme online content, disinformation, propaganda, and information warfare on internet communications platforms. At UCL, her work concerns content curation and moderation on online communications platforms, with a focus on protecting high-value content.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

As a barrister, she has litigated media, technology, and constitutional cases, including matters involving freedom of expression, privacy, harassment, and intellectual property. She has acted for broadcasters, social media and telecoms, governments, officials, and journalists.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

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.

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

🚨 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...

tsjournal.org

Should Social Media Platforms Permit Violating Content that is “Newsworthy”? | Journal of Online Trust and Safety

Journal of Online Trust and Safety

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

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.”

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

🏛️ With expertise spanning ethics, linguistics, social science, computer science, and law, we provide evidence and frameworks that support more responsible approaches to online speech. 🌐Learn more about what we do: www.digitalspeechlab.com

digitalspeechlab.com

DIGITAL SPEECH LAB

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UCL Digital Speech Lab @uclspeechlab.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

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.

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