Samantha Bradshaw is a scholar of technology, security, and democracy. She is the director of the Center for Security, Innovation & New Technology (CSINT) at American University (AU) and an Assistant Professor at AU’s School of International Service. Samantha also holds a Perry World House Lightning Scholar Fellowship (24-25) and is a Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Canada.

Researching Disinformation, Social Media and Democracy.

Samantha is a leading expert on new technologies, security and democracy. Her research examines the producers and drivers of disinformation, and how technology—artificial intelligence, automation and big data analytics—enhance and constrain the spread of disinformation online. At the forefront of theoretical and methodological approaches for studying, analyzing, and explicating the complex relationship between technology and democracy, Samantha’s research has helped advance academic debate, public understanding and policy discussions around the impact of emerging technologies on political expression, elections, trust & safety, and privacy.

Recent Publications

Press & Media Engagement

A closer look at Russia’s global influence amid 2020 election. NBC News. January 2020.

I speak regularly with journalists working on issues related to social media, elections, privacy & surveillance, freedom of speech, and democracy. My research and writing has been featured in numerous local and global outlets, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, the Globe and Mail, and Reuters.

Public Speaking & Events

Technology and the next frontier in human rights. Hertie School. April 2018.

I have given lectures and keynotes at organizations around the world including international organizations such as UNESCO and NATO, universities including Harvard, MIT, and Cambridge, and other NGOs, think tanks, and research institutions. You can view a list of my past speaking engagements and access my power point presentations for any previous events.