COMMColloquium

Resisting Networked Misogyny: Platformized Activism, Care Infrastructures and Algorithmic Visibility 

Bya Rodrigues, PhD Candidate, Cornell University

3 pm in 102 Mann

Reception to follow in the Hub

Harassment, especially with misogynistic and anti-feminist undertones, predates the invention of digital technologies. However, in recent years, minoritized individuals who are highly visible online and use social media for activism and public communication have experienced a proliferation of technology-mediated violence and subsequent reinforcement of violence through institutionalized abuse. Even though technology-mediated violence is gaining increasing attention from the wider academic community and their affiliated institutions, empirical work and organizational responses are still lacking. In this talk, I share insights from my dissertation research exploring how highly visible politicians, researchers, journalists, and activists resist, subvert, and bear witness to the weaponization of digital platforms. Once envisioned as tools for connection and community-building, these spaces are now increasingly used to silence and harass those engaged in social justice. I will overview findings discussing how technology-mediated harassment exists on a continuum of violence that has historically sought to exclude minorities from the public sphere. Furthermore, I highlight how activist work is increasingly entangled in the logic of social media, compelling those committed to social change to negotiate their time and resources in ways that require working for, with, and against technology. Finally, our talk concludes with a discussion on how researchers can participate in creating technological ecologies otherwise alongside those most oppressed by current systems, while advocating for better institutional recognition of these issues.

Beatrys (Bya) Rodrigues is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at Cornell University, where she is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow and a recipient of a SUNY Fellowship. Her research examines the sociotechnical power dynamics of transnational digital media and artificial intelligence, with a focus on creating collaborative pathways to mitigate technology-mediated violence and foster feminist futures. By collaborating with activists and creators, she co-produces data and narratives that support organizations to resist technology-shaped oppression. Beatrys holds a specialization in Consumer and Material Culture: Semiopsychoanalytic Perspectives and a BA in Social Communications (Advertising) from the University of São Paulo. She has presented her work at platforms including TEDx, SXSW, Pint of Science, Canal Futura and Campus Party. Additionally, she explores the intersections of scientific inquiry with documentary filmmaking, speculative design, and collaborative media-making.