Full Biography

My name is Samantha Bradshaw. I am the Director of the Center for Security, Innovation & New Technology at American University. I am also an Assistant Professor at American University’s School of International Service. I am also currently a Perry World House Lightning Scholar Fellow, and a Research Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation. Prior, I was a Fellow at Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum (North America), as well as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University working at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law the Digital Civil Society Lab, and the Program for Democracy and the Internet. I completed my D.Phil. in Information, Communication, and the Social Sciences at the Oxford Internet Institute in 2020.

My scholarship uses a mix of computational and qualitative methods to answer foundational questions about technology, politics, and power: When do digital technologies enhance or constrain democracy? What roles do governments, companies, and civil society play in shaping civic life? And which policy interventions are most needed to improve online information ecosystems?

Currently, I am working on several projects at the intersection of social media, platform governance, and democracy. Some of these projects include investigations into identity-based disinformation. For example, in an article in the International Journal of Communication, I explore how foreign state actors discuss women and women’s rights as part of their influence operations. In other projects, my work helps theorize, analyze, and explore the impact of content moderation practices on the online information ecosystem, by examining how labelling policies affect audiences of state-backed news, or exploring the effects of deplatforming certain users from mainstream platforms, for example.

My research has generated significant academic and policy interest, as well as global media attention. I have published work in leading academic journals, including New Media & Society, Internet & Policy, Internet Technology & Regulation, American Behavioral Scientist, and the Columbia Journal of International Affairs. My research and public writing have been featured by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Globe and Mail, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg Magazine. I have spoke on expert-panels and have delivered keynote lectures around the world, including international organizations such as UNESCO and NATO. And I have been involved in public policy discussions in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, briefing staff and providing expert-witness testimony to several ongoing political processes about the effects of technology on democracy.