Digital contention in divided societies: How online platforms hinder peacebuilding

HUM:Global Flagship Initiative public talk by Dr. Paul Reilly, University of Glasgow.

As far back as the late sixties, Johann Galtung predicted that the rapid growth of new media technologies would favour associative approaches towards peacebuilding. The assumption was that strategies to keep antagonists apart would likely fail due to the development of more efficient means of communication bringing them closer together. Despite the pervasiveness of platformed racism and hate speech, big tech companies like Meta frequently claim that their platforms provide space for dialogue between social groups traditionally divided along ethnic or sectarian lines. This talk evaluates these claims by examining the potential contribution of social media platforms to peacebuilding in divided societies. By examining the literature on social media peacebuilding initiatives and assessing whether these platforms constitute shared spaces in which positive relationships between antagonistic groups can be built in deeply divided societies.

Bio

Dr. Paul Reilly is Senior Lecturer in Communications, Media & Democracy at the University of Glasgow. His research interests include digital activism, digital media and peacebuilding, online research ethics, and how social media are used in relation to contentious parades and protests. He has written two books on the role of digital media in conflict transformation in Northern Ireland (Framing the Troubles Online and Digital Contention in a Divided Society, both with Manchester University Press). His work has also been published in a number of journals including Information, Communication & Society, Journalism, New Media & Society, and Policy & Internet.