Related papers: New threats to society from free-speech social med…
Over the past few years, a number of new "fringe" communities, like 4chan or certain subreddits, have gained traction on the Web at a rapid pace. However, more often than not, little is known about how they evolve or what kind of activities…
Parler is as an "alternative" social network promoting itself as a service that allows to "speak freely and express yourself openly, without fear of being deplatformed for your views." Because of this promise, the platform become popular…
The moderation of content in many social media systems, such as Twitter and Facebook, motivated the emergence of a new social network system that promotes free speech, named Gab. Soon after that, Gab has been removed from Google Play Store…
Social media has become an important venue for diverse groups to share information, discuss political issues, and organize social movements. Recent scholarship has shown that the social media ecosystem can affect political thinking and…
Social platforms such as Gab and Parler, branded as `free-speech' networks, have seen a significant growth of their user base in recent years. This popularity is mainly attributed to the stricter moderation enforced by mainstream platforms…
Despite the valuable social interactions that online media promote, these systems provide space for speech that would be potentially detrimental to different groups of people. The moderation of content imposed by many social media has…
Online platforms have completely transformed American social life. They have democratized publication, overthrown old gatekeepers, and given ordinary Americans a fresh voice in politics. But the system is beginning to falter. Control over…
Parler, a "free speech" platform popular with conservatives, was taken offline in January 2021 due to the lack of moderation of hateful and QAnon- and other conspiracy-related content that allegedly made it instrumental in the organisation…
Recently, social media platforms are heavily moderated to prevent the spread of online hate speech, which is usually fertile in toxic words and is directed toward an individual or a community. Owing to such heavy moderation, newer and more…
In this paper, we characterize the content and discourse on BitChute, a social video-hosting platform. Launched in 2017 as an alternative to YouTube, BitChute joins an ecosystem of alternative, low content moderation platforms, including…
Online social networks have become a fundamental component of our everyday life. Unfortunately, these platforms are also a stage for hate speech. Popular social networks have regularized rules against hate speech. Consequently, social…
The emergence of toxic information on social networking sites, such as Twitter, Parler, and Reddit, has become a growing concern. Consequently, this study aims to assess the level of toxicity in COVID-19 discussions on Twitter, Parler, and…
Gab, an online social media platform with very little content moderation, has recently come to prominence as an alt-right community and a haven for hate speech. We document the evolution of Gab since its inception until a Gab user carried…
Information-based attacks on social media, such as disinformation campaigns and propaganda, are emerging cybersecurity threats. The security community has focused on countering these threats on social media platforms like X and Reddit.…
This paper evaluates Parler, the controversial social media platform, from two seemingly orthogonal perspectives: UX design perspective and data science. UX design researchers explore how users react to the interface/content of their social…
Representation shapes public attitudes and behaviors. With the recent advances and rapid adoption of LLMs, the way these systems are introduced will negotiate societal expectations for their role in high-stakes domains like health. Yet it…
This essay argues that a new form of democracy - an "Emergent Democracy" - will develop as a result of the use of Internet communication tools and platforms such as blogs. The essay explores a variety of tools available and explores the…
Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and its competitors have caused a revolution in natural language processing, but their capabilities also introduce new security vulnerabilities. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of…
In today's digital era, the Internet, especially social media platforms, plays a significant role in shaping public opinions, attitudes, and beliefs. Unfortunately, the credibility of scientific information sources is often undermined by…
The emergence of tools based on Large Language Models (LLMs), such as OpenAI's ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing Chat, and Google's Bard, has garnered immense public attention. These incredibly useful, natural-sounding tools mark significant…