Down the Rabbit Hole: Combating Far-Right Radicalization and Disinformation on U.S. Social Platforms

The last half-decade has been characterized by public concern over the spread of formerly-fringe ideas, such as conspiracy theories, violent racism, male supremacy, and anti-vaccination mythologies and their correspondence with the popularity of social media platforms. This class asks students to consider how social media platforms and US government regulators should tackle this problem. We will take a critical approach to disinformation studies and examine social platform policies, global countering violent extremism efforts, and Obama, Trump, and Biden-era policies around political violence to formulate recommendations and best practices.