Kateryna Kasianenko

IOC bars Ukrainian athlete’s helmet honoring athletes killed during war Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said on Feb. 10 that he has been barred from using a custom helmet at the 2026 Winter Olympics, that honors Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia’s war.

⚡️IOC bars Ukrainian athlete’s helmet honoring athletes killed during war.

Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych said on Feb. 10 that he has been barred from using a custom helmet at the 2026 Winter Olympics, that honors Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia’s war.

Listen to this critically important podcast on the background of the protests and the regime's atrocities in #Iran. It is particularly valuable because it offers practical solutions against #digitalblackout, such as following www.iranintl.com/en or helping others get online via conduit.psiphon.ca.

Something that unsettles me here lately is that I have to look elsewhere for any sense of what’s happening in Ukraine, and what’s happening in Ukraine is very bad indeed.

Inspiring talks by @ninajankowicz.com and @ahrabhikat.bsky.social (on attacks towards academics and activists and bias in computational social science, respectively) were my highlights for the day #dmrcss26

AXA Research Fund <div>Supporting Scientific Research to Protect What Matters</div>

Hello World
I wanted to share an update on my project, supported by the AXA Research Fund axa-research.org postdoctoral fellowship. The project aims to identify the optimal characteristics of decentralised social media platforms that foster prosocial digital spaces (promote safe communication)
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What is happening in Iran is horrifying. And the silence is deafening. The people of Iran deserve to have their fight and plight seen and heard - at the very least.

Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity by region in Ukraine from January 20, 2026, to January 26, 2026. The y-axis shows normalized connectivity from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis shows dates. The green line representing Kharkiv's connectivity remains lower than normal most of the time period due to scheduled shutdowns. A red horizontal arrow labelled “Scheduled power cuts” spans January 21 to January 24, indicating recurring connectivity reductions linked to planned electricity outages. Toward the end of the timeline on January 26, a sharp drop in connectivity is highlighted with a red circle and labelled “Attack,” indicating a sudden disruption consistent with an energy or infrastructure strike. The minimum and current connectivity levels are shown as 50% and 65%, respectively. The chart has a dark background and includes the NetBlocks logo in the lower left corner.

⚠️ Confirmed: Network data show a disruption to internet connectivity in Kharkiv, #Ukraine, following a combined UAV and heavy rocket artillery assault by Russia targeting energy infrastructure

Graph from NetBlocks showing network connectivity in Iran from January 2, 2026 to January 26, 2026. The y-axis represents normalized connectivity, ranging from 0% to 100%, and the x-axis represents the dates. The green line representing Iran's observable internet connectivity, with a sharp drop on the evening of January 8 from high levels to near zero and only a short-lasting recovery on the morning of January 24. The drop in connectivity aligns with an internet shutdown imposed by authorities during protests across the nation. The minimum and current connectivity levels are indicated as 1% and 1%, respectively. The chart has a dark background with a red horizontal arrow labeled 'SHUTDOWN' indicating the period of disruption, which is ongoing.

⚠️ Update: #Iran's internet blackout continues through its 18th day, obscuring the extent of a deadly crackdown on civilians.

Meanwhile, gaps in the filternet are being tightened to limit circumvention while whitelisted regime accounts promote the Islamic Republic's narrative.

Hundreds of faces among thousands, truly gutted by the atrocities we are seeing the Iranian regime perpetrate on its own people

As Russia bombs Ukraine’s critical infrastructure in the freezing cold, local stores not only share generator power so people can charge their devices, but also open their doors to stray animals, helping them survive 🐶🐱

Its -16°C in the capital right now.

As US weighs attack, fate of Iran protests may hang in the balance As Iran steps up a deadly crackdown on nationwide demonstrations, some analysts warned that if US President Donald Trump does not act on his vow to protect protestors, the unrest he helped galvanize m...

Sharing here on a friend and colleague's request. That is, getting information out.

Great opportunity to work on an important project #commsky

Iran experiencing nationwide internet blackout, monitor says NetBlocks says the apparent blackout follows 'a series of escalating digital censorship measures targeting protests'.

Meanwhile

This is not a movie, this is my beautiful Odesa right now after Russia bombed it . Tell me more how Russia wants peace I dare you

It feels like we have been living in 2020 again, surrounded by grief, anger, and despair. However, I want to share what gives me hope that one day we will move beyond the pandemic and the infodemic. 1/3

Scientists have developed a life-saving antivenom from the deadliest venom. Don't think PR agencies, ad firms or tech giants could do the same. But they are apparently in charge of social media safety. Social scientists have better answers to make social media a safer space, if only we are heard

Here we go 😒

The Persistence of Informational Manipulation and the Appropriation of This chapter introduces the concepts of conspiratorial publics and conspiratorial canon within the context of Strategic Digital Information Operations (SDIOs)

Super happy that my friends @katemfitzgerald.bsky.social, @timothyjgraham.bsky.social and I have just published a chapter about conspiracy theories, their formation and persistence on digital platforms. Edited by @ihsanylmz.bsky.social & Shahram Akbarzadeh

www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-...

Understanding Boutique News Media as a Novel Form of Journalism | Snurblog — Axel Bruns For my last conference of the year, I’ve made the short trip up to the Sunshine Coast to attend t

A great keynote by @karinwahlj.bsky.social on the rise of boutique news media to start off the #AANZCA25 conference on the Sunshine Coast. Liveblog is up:

Don't miss this wonderful article on how chatbots enable or constrain "casually curious" people looking for information about conspiracies (and catch Kate's presentation at #AANZCA2025)

Labor has brushed aside concerns over the social media ban. But what if it doesn’t work as promised? If Meta, the world’s biggest social media company, expects problems after a year of preparation, then what should the rest of us be expecting?

I spoke to @australia.theguardian.com about the unworkability of Australia’s #SocialMediaBan for children and young people:

👋 So hello world, we did a thing.

🎁 Might be useful for some people ?

#misinformation #disinformation #fakenews

DIGITAL MEDIA RESEARCH CENTRE 2026 SUMMER SCHOOL MON 2 FEB - FRI 6 FEB 2026 QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, BRISBANE

😲 Ooooh, the full programme for the @qutdmrc.bsky.social Summer School 2026 is out now, and it's full of sciencey goodness. If you were still on the fence about signing up, you have until 19 Dec. to do so. ⌛

The Summer School dates are 2-6 Feb. 2026. #dmrcss26

research.qut.edu.au/...

I draw from practice theory and internet studies to break the idea of digital practices into six distinct elements. This has allowed me (and, hopefully, will help others) to know with greater certainty what is or is not a practice, and how it can be studied, including through computational methods.

Elements of practices in digital publics: a model for identifying collective doings on social media platforms Abstract. Studies of public communication in digitally networked spaces have increasingly adopted the notion of practice to make sense of patterned doings

📝 New article out in Communication Theory. In it, I define practices, a term studies often use without operationalising, as things we do for a reason with specific others, driven by certain knowledge, values, and supported and constrained by language and material environments doi.org/10.1093/ct/q...

ADM+S researchers awarded 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Grants - ADM+S Centre ADM+S researchers have been awarded more than $100,000 under the 2025 Queensland-Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting research in the use of AI in news personalisation and online search.

Congratulations to ADM+S researchers awarded grants under the 2025 Queensland–Bavaria Collaborative Research Program, supporting projects that advance research in the responsible use of AI in news personalisation and online search. Read more bit.ly/4ngSRcc

Clockwise from top left: Kateryna Kasianenko, Professor Axel Bruns, Brett Tweedie, Shir Weinbrand, Dr Ashwin Nagappa and Professor Daniel Angus.

🍾 Really excited for my @qutdmrc.bsky.social / @admscentre.org.au colleagues and me to have won a small Qld/Bay seed grant for collaborative research with @marhai.bsky.social (@lmumuenchen.bsky.social) on the impact of AI Overviews in search results. More details here:

www.qut.edu.au/news?...

Once again forgot to get photos of myself presenting, but it was such a delight to talk about Australia's own cyberfeminist zine Geekgirl at #aoir2025 yesterday!