Laia Castro

How do people think different sectors’ use of generative AI will change their experience of interacting with them?

More optimists than pessimists for e.g. science and search engines, but more pessimists than optimists for news media, government, and – especially – politicians 1/3

Explaining public preferences for regulating Artificial Intelligence in election campaigns: Evidence from the U.S. and Taiwan The increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in election campaigns, such as AI-generated political ads, automated messaging, and the widespread …

🧵 New publication: How do people feel about regulating #AI in election campaigns? 🧵

In a new article, @adrauc.bsky.social, @kunkakom.bsky.social, and I examine when and why people support stronger AI regulation in political competition.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Abstract

New paper out with @dasalgon.bsky.social: “Far-Right Agenda Setting: How the Far Right influences the Political Mainstream” doi.org/10.1017/S1475676525100066 #openaccess in @ejprjournal.bsky.social🧵

Screenshot of the article “Open science in democracy research: the research infrastructure ‘Monitoring Electoral Democracy’ (MEDem)” published in European Political Science. The header shows the journal name, DOI link, and the label “DEBATE.” Below, the title is followed by the author list: Hajo Boomgaarden, Alexia Katsanidou, Sylvia Kritzinger, Georg Lutz, Johanna Willmann, and Jakob-Moritz Eberl. The abstract explains the aims of MEDem as a European research infrastructure to make democracy research data FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable). Keywords listed include open science, FAIR data, ESFRI roadmap, research infrastructure, democracy research, data harmonization, data linking, and data set search. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41304-025-00534-8

They say: once there’s a paper 📝, it’s real…
🎉 #MEDem in #EPS @ecpr.bsky.social

The paper outlines how MEDem will strengthen #OpenScience by making data #FAIR in #DemocracyResearch – and how scholars across Europe are joining forces to build a truly open #ResearchInfrastructure ⚙️

Proud to be part of such a productive research group!

🔎Looking for a panel survey? Feel free to use ours!

A multilevel network approach to revealing patterns of online political selective exposure Selective exposure, individuals’ inclination to seek out information that supports their beliefs while avoiding information that contradicts them, plays an important role in the emergence of polarizat...

New publication with @abovet.bsky.social @esserfrank.bsky.social @laiacastro.bsky.social

With today’s political environment becoming increasingly complex, how can political selective exposure be measured beyond the traditional ‘left vs. right’ lens?

Read more:
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

In_equality Conference 2026 The "Politics of Inequality” research center invites interdisciplinary & international researchers to Konstanz, Germany, for the In_equality Conference, 15-17 April 2026.

🚨Call for papers for the 2026 Inequality conference in Konstanz. I'm co-organizing it and we welcome submissions from Computational Social Science. The deadline is approaching quickly!
inequality-conference.de

🧲 We are hiring!
✨ PhD position to join @dec-gr.bsky.social
🏁 4-year FPI contract
🎓 Pol Sci / Social Sci background + Master’s + English
📧 Send expression of interest with CV and motivation letter to gr.dec@uab.cat
🔗 tinyurl.com/yc3epmv2

📣 We’re launching the London Social Media Observatory! 🎉

➡️ We are a new multidisciplinary research centre, directed by @andreucasas.bsky.social & funded by the @ukri.org Future Leaders Fellowship

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Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...

Scapegoating the Algorithm—Asterisk America’s epistemic challenges run deeper than social media.

How much can we blame social media for our polarized political climate?

@danwphilosophy.bsky.social argues that the narrative that the platforms cause polarization “overlooks deeper political and institutional problems that are reflected on social media, not created by it.”

To all the #DSA experts and data access enthusiast out there, before you go on holiday, sign up & save the date for the #dsa40 data access days in Berlin, September 25 & 26!

2 days with keynotes, panels, expert insights and practical guidance 👉 dsa40collaboratory.eu/data-access-...

🚨 Big News for European Political Science 🚨

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the European Political Science Society (EPSS): a new, member-led, not-for-profit association built to support our scholarly community.

🔗 epssnet.org

Here’s a thread with everything you need to know.

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Our Digital News Report 2025 is out!

📊48 markets
🌏Almost 100K respondents
📰Key headline: Audiences lean into video news and influencers, raising misinformation concerns and new dilemmas for publishers

📱Explore now buff.ly/xLP67Tg
🧵Findings in thread #DNR25

Thrilled to share the program for the III Yale-UB HPE Workshop — a joint initiative bringing together HPE researchers across continents and disciplines. Huge thanks to our sponsors, presenters, and discussants. Can’t wait for a great conference!
cc @cescamat.bsky.social (UB co-host)

Scholar, journalist, policy maker, NGO working on digital technologies and democracy topics?

Check out this exciting Fellowship program at the @ddc-sdu.bsky.social.

Flexible conditions, inspiring environment, great colleagues.

🗓️ DL: September 15 (check instructions ⬇️)

www.sdu.dk/en/forskning...

The real story isn’t young men supposedly voting far right. It’s what young women are up to | Cas Mudde There is an opportunity staring centre-left parties in the face – if they reject the male gaze distorting our politics, says political scientist Cas Mudde

From Bluesky to the Guardian!

In my new op-Ed, I argue that the “male glaze” of media and politics is empirically, normative, and politically wrong and that progressives should focus more on the left turn of young women.

Special issue on Democratic Listening forthcoming @polcommjournal.bsky.social. 9 excellent articles using experimental, observational, & philosophical methods to study this key component of political comm. Check out the TOC + intro essay by Michael Neblo & myself: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨 We're hiring! Join us at @LMU_Muenchen for the DFG-funded project "Democratic Persuasion: How to Make the Case for Democracy."

Interested in making scholarly & societal impact?

We’re looking for:
🔹 1 Postdoc (100%)
🔹 1 PhD researcher (70%)
Starting: Oct 2025 | Apply by: July 8
More info ⬇️ (1/7)

Kicked off our #Fuel2Fire 🔥 project in Hamburg!

In this cross-country collaboration, we're studying polarization across Europe — from meta discourse to polarizing topics & practices — with partners from Spain, Sweden, Poland & @netzwerkrecherche.org.

#Polarization #Journalism

The Effects of Forecasts on the Accuracy and Precision of Expectations Abstract. Quantitative forecasts have become increasingly prominent as tools for aiding public understanding of sociopolitical trends. But how much, and wh

Out now at @poqjournal.bsky.social! Do election forecasts set realistic election expectations? doi.org/10.1093/poq/... 🧵 (w/ @mbarnfield.bsky.social, @florianstoeckel.bsky.social, @benlyons.bsky.social, @vittoriomerola.bsky.social, @jasonreifler.bsky.social and other awesome BlueSky-less colleagues)

The role of far-right party performance in shaping disinformation concerns of European voters: evidence from the 2024 European Parliament elections Concerns about the risk of disinformation in the 2024 European Parliament elections were widespread in European capitals. Simultaneously, the far-right – often linked to the spread of disinformatio...

▶️ Do far-right wins fuel disinformation fears? 😮

@kgattermann.bsky.social, @elskevdhoogen.bsky.social and @claesdevreese.bsky.social show that strong far-right showings in the 2024 EP elections heighten public concern about disinformation 👇

GESIS Fall Seminar in Computational Social Science 2025 01 to 26 September 2025 Mannheim | Online

📣 GESIS Fall Seminar in Computational Social Science 2025

The program of the #GESISfallseminar is out & registration is open!

🗓️ 01 - 26 Sep 2025

Venue (depending on course):
🏢 GESIS Mannheim
💻 Online

More info & registration at gesis.org/fallseminar

🌟 Another milestone for #MEDem! We’re now backed by 900+ #democracyresearchers worldwide! 🌍
🙌 Let’s keep the momentum going and reach 1,000 soon!
It only takes a minute to sign 👉 www.medem.eu/medem-endorsements

Our project #WHAT-IF is live! 🚀

Disinformation and hate speech threaten democratic discourse. WHAT-IF is building a digital twin of the political information landscape to test interventions and foster healthier democracies.

Stay tuned for updates and check our brand-new website: what-if-horizon.eu

Much needed and timely report on academic access to social media data👇🏽

New publication (4+ years in the making): “The Diffusion and Reach of (Mis)Information on Facebook”. shorturl.at/VE2fU
We analyze the propagation of 1B+ posts across content moderation regimes, with @davidlazer.bsky.social @jatucker.bsky.social @taliastroud.bsky.social @annenbergpenn.bsky.social

‼️ Call for papers for the Barcelona DEC Workshop on Political Behavior and Public Opinion 👉 webs.uab.cat/grdec/2025-w... deadline: January 15th

(DIGITAL) MEDIA SYSTEM
So far, only new studies have empirically investigated media systems in the digital age. Stemming from trad approaches to media system comparisons, @laiacastro.bsky.social & @sinajb.bsky.social review the latest efforts to measure digital MS www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/b...

To celebrate the publication of our HANDBOOK OF COMPARATIVE POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS and our awesome contributors, I’m kicking off a pre-holiday challenge: every day, I’ll share a short intro to one of its chapters.

This is also an opportunity to connect with new colleagues, so please feel free to 📌!