February 10, 2026 Online Lecture: "How the Far Right and Social Media Mobilize Working-Class Emotions" by Rosana Pinheiro-Machado on February 27“How the Far Right and Social Media Mobilize Working-Class Emotions”
by Prof. Dr. Rosana Pinheiro-Machado (University College Dublin & DeepLab)
27 February 2026, Friday 16:00-17:30 CET (15:00-16:30 UK Time)
From the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
“The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series presents: “How the Far Right and Social Media Mobilize Working-Class Emotions” by Prof. Dr. Rosana Pinheiro-Machado (University College Dublin & DeepLab) Date and time: 27 February 2026, Friday 16:00-17:30 CET (15:00-16:30 UK Time) Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University) Link: https://ecpr-eu.zoom.us/j/88407075148?pwd=KkzfZnxOIlzjeXvbpAssSdFHkXbB1Y.1 Meeting ID: 88407075148 Passcode: 560003
Abstract Working-class support for reactionary politics is as old as capitalism itself, yet it remains one of the most paradoxical features of modern democracy. Long celebrated as the vanguard of progressive change, significant segments of low-income groups are now aligning with illiberal regimes, authoritarian populists, and far-right movements across the globe. This talk explores why. Drawing on twenty-five years of ethnographic research with workers in Brazil, and more recently in India and the Philippines, it argues that this alignment cannot be explained by economic deprivation, resentment, or cultural backlash alone. Instead, digital technologies emerge as pivotal in reshaping working-class political subjectivities. By introducing the concept of the authoritariat, the talk shows how platform labour, gig work, and the promise of self-employment destabilise democratic bonds while fostering new desires for recognition, autonomy, and self-worth. These dynamics are rooted in long histories of colonial marginality yet amplified in the 21st century by the deregulation of digital labour and the rise of Big Tech. Far from being trapped in nostalgia, reactionary politics derives its strength from projecting an imagined future—one that offers both rage and dreams to those historically excluded. In reframing debates on working-class politics toward the Global South, the talk theorises a new, deeply ambivalent political formation—part authoritarian, part conservative, part libertarian—that is profoundly consequential for the future of democracy. Rosana Pinheiro-Machado, an anthropologist, is a Professor of Global Studies at University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. She is the Director of the Digital Economy and Extreme Politics Lab (DeepLab) and the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council- funded project Flexible Work, Rigid Politics in Brazil, India, and the Philippines. Her ethnographic research explores the intersection of reactionary politics and precariousness in the emerging economies of the Global South.
January 16, 2026 Book Launch: “Twitter Activism in Iran” by Hossein KermaniWe invite you to the book launch and discussion “Twitter Activism and the Current Uprising in Iran" with Dr. Hossein Kermani (University of Vienna) and Dr. Gi Yeon Koo (Seoul National University Asia Center).
Date: 13 February 2026, Friday, 10:00 CET
From the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
We invite you to the book launch “Twitter Activism in Iran: Social Media and Democracy in Authoritarian Regimes” (Palgrave, 2025) by Dr. Hossein Kermani (Department of Communication, University of Vienna) Discussant: Dr. Gi Yeon Koo (Seoul National University Asia Center) Date: 13 February 2026, Friday, 10:00 CET
Meeting ID: 86775169362 Passcode: 801004
Abstract: "Twitter Activism in Iran: Social Media and Democracy in Authoritarian Regimes" by Hossein Kermani (Palgrave, 2025) investigates Twitter activism in authoritarian regimes, with particular attention to Iran. The platform has been blocked in Iran since the 2009 presidential election and its subsequent protests, the Green Movement. Nevertheless, Iranians have been continually using it to date. Recently, another significant hashtag movement unfolded in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. But it is only an instance of how Iranians employ Twitter to fight a dictatorship. Given the unique context of Iran as a non-democratic society with a high number of Twitter users, this book tries to explore how Iranian users participate in politics, challenge the regime, mobilize their protests, and shape anti-regime discourses. It also examines the strategies that the Iranian regime takes to dismantle Twitter activism. Moving from the book, the lecture will further discuss the dynamics of the current uprising and brutal state repression in Iran. Find further information on the book here. Hossein Kermani is a senior researcher at the Political Communication Research Group of the University of Vienna, Austria. He studies social media, digital repression, computational propaganda and political activism in restrictive contexts, with particular attention to Iran. He is the principal investigator of the BeyondCBA project, which is funded by WWTF. Gi Yeon Koo is a HK professor at Seoul National University Asia Center, South Korea. Gi Yeon Koo’s current interest focuses on Islamophobia in Korea, Muslim migration and refugee in Korea, Media and Social Movements in Iran, Young Generation’s Popular Culture, and Iranian Women.
December 21, 2025 Online Lecture: "Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions" by Gergely Gosztonyi on 20 January 2026"From a Borderless Network to a Regulated Sphere: Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions"
by Prof. Dr. Gergely Gosztonyi (Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab, Faculty of Law of Eötvös, Loránd University)
Date and time: 20 January 2026, Tuesday 15:00 - 16:30 CET
Link: ... more
From the Research Network on Digital AuthoritarianismFrom the Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
"From a Borderless Network to a Regulated Sphere: Legal Perspectives on the Global Rise of Internet Restrictions"
by Prof. Dr. Gergely Gosztonyi (Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab, Faculty of Law of Eötvös, Loránd University)
Date and time: 20 January 2026, Tuesday 15:00 - 16:30 CET Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University)
Link: https://ecpr-eu.zoom.us/j/85020491314?pwd=AJanivPCVXzYzppBXwkIa1kshPlO2s.1 Zoom ID: 850 2049 1314 Password: 063701
Abstract
The past decade has witnessed an expansion of state-imposed restrictions on the internet, reshaping the legal architecture of digital communication globally. Once seen as a borderless and largely self-regulating space, the internet is increasingly subject to territorial governance, content controls, censorship and platform-centered enforcement mechanisms. From a lawyer’s perspective, this trend raises fundamental questions about sovereignty, freedom of expression, procedural guarantees, and the rule of law in the digital environment. The presentation examines the legal rationales underpinning contemporary internet restrictions, with particular attention to fundamental rights limitations, the privatisation of enforcement through online platforms, and the growing fragmentation of global internet governance. It argues that while regulation is neither avoidable nor inherently illegitimate, the cumulative expansion of restrictive measures risks normalising overbroad control and chilling effects unless anchored in clear legality, proportionality, and effective accountability framework.
Bio
Gergely Gosztonyi is a Full Professor, a Hungarian lawyer and media researcher. He is the Head of Digital Authoritarianism Research Lab (DARL) at the Faculty of Law of Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE). His research interests include global regulation of social media, censorship, deepfake, alternative media and the liability of intermediaries. Since 2015, he has been the lead coach of the Hungarian team for the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition. He has been an expert on various occasions for the Council of Europe, the National Media and Infocommunications Authority, and the National Talent Centre. He is editor of several law journals and has published over 170 articles in Hungarian and international law journals.
|
 | Loading… |
| Loading… |
|
