Unflattening the cultures of violence on digital platforms: A knowledge synthesis proposal

Drs. Jaigirs Hodson and Esteban Morales were awarded a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Knowledge Synthesis Grant to explore how violence on digital platforms is shaped by culture.

As digital technologies become an inescapable element of the lives of citizens across the world, they have also become spaces where users regularly encounter, experience, and make sense of violence. Indeed, users of digital platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram frequently experience harassment, hate speech, and vitriol. However, while violence on digital platforms has become an issue of global concern, more attention ought to be paid to the multiple ways in which online harms shape and are shaped by culture. In this context, it is essential to understand how countries with different cultures result in distinct inhabitations of harm on digital platforms.

This knowledge synthesis project aims to explore the different ways in which violence on digital platforms is shaped by and can shape culture. To achieve this, the project will be centred on two objectives. First, we will map the state of knowledge on the role of culture concerning violence on digital platforms, conducting a scoping literature review to identify, summarize, and evaluate information concerning cultures of platformed violence. The results of this literature review will provide a comprehensive examination of the theoretical approaches taken to explore the cultures of violence on digital platforms, as well as an overview of the methods, populations, and key findings of empirical studies conducted in this area. Second, we will describe and evaluate the quality, accuracy, and rigour of available data concerning the topic of this project in the context of two settings: Canada and Colombia. These two countries are ideally suited to a revision of this nature due to their distinct connection to violence, both online and offline. Foregrounding these two countries will provide a valuable and critical source of information on whether, how, and to what extent cultural contexts contribute to nuances in how citizens experience platformed violence. To address the cultural differences and similarities between these two contexts, we will collect and analyze academic studies, grey literature produced by non-governmental organizations, and national and local policies.

Overall, this project aims to achieve two objectives. First, it will explore how new technologies impact cultures and historical narratives, especially examining the opportunities and risks these technologies pose for communities. Second, it examines how diverse cultural perspectives shape (and thus are necessary to address) global challenges and contribute to innovation in political, economic, technological and social spheres. In this context, scholars, policymakers, and educators---primarily from Canada and Colombia---stand to benefit significantly from the insights generated by this project.