Mai Van Tran

If you are an advanced PhD student or PostDoc working on AI and global politics/tech/authoritarianism come spend 1-6 months in Berlin this year with @scripts-berlin.eu! We have some funding for you and will help w/ visa and other moving issues.
Info here: www.scripts-berlin.eu/about-us/job...

Political protest slop has become the new “Shrimp Jesus”: first religion, now politics. In the vibocracy, emotions are exploited to make a living under capitalist realism.

files.maldita.es/maldita/uplo...

Delighted to see my article on the #Myanmar military junta's foreign relations since the 2021 military coup is now available for download with Asian Politics & Policy. Massive thanks to @markscogan.bsky.social for the invitation to join this special issue: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Apply to Present Your Work! Complete the form to be considered for the Authoritarian Political Systems Group Spring 2026 Season. Read the Seminar Rules before applying.

Our Call for Papers for the Spring 2026 is now open!
Submit your proposal by November 9th using this link: forms.gle/SvZv98ke4QUT...
For more information visit: apsg.work/cfp/

Of course, you would know each other! Small world haha Hope you're doing well, Alex! And big congratulations on your new job!

Come be my colleague! I’ve just started at NIU but really enjoy being part of this supportive community.

The Department of Philosophy and Center for Southeast Asian Studies invite applications for a joint tenure-track position in Buddhist Studies.

employment.niu.edu/postings/86698

Lessons from Nepal on the High Cost of Controlling Online Expression | TechPolicy.Press The Nepalese government attempted to control the information ecosystem and lost control of the state itself, writes Samik Kharel.

After a sweeping social media ban, Nepal saw its bloodiest unrest in decades. What has happened in Nepal is a warning to other democracies to tread carefully with efforts to contain online expression, writes Samik Kharel.

This resonates well beyond media & communication studies

TikTok in Myanmar isn’t just entertainment.
It’s a frontline in the information war — exploited by the military & nationalists to spread propaganda, incite violence, and profit from harmful content.
#Myanmar #TikTok #DigitalRights

Full report: www.myanmarinternet.info/post/weaponi...

Data Modeling Process Environment → Data → Preprocess → Explore → Model → Communicate →

A framework for critical analysis Data • Harmful data collection, lack of consent, insecure / lack of privacy, historical, representational, or measurement bias, ... Preprocess • Labor exploitation, labeling by non-experts, incorrect labeling, trauma experienced by labelers, ... Explore • Feature selection bias, bias in interpretation of data visualization, data manipulation, feature hacking, ... Model • Bias in model choice, model-amplified bias, environmental impact, learning bias, evaluation bias, peripheral modeling, ... Communicate • Biased model interpretation, ignoring variance, rejecting model, deploying harmful products, deployment bias, ... Meta • "Pernicious feedback loops", runaway homogeneity, susceptability to adversarial attack, lack of oversight or auditing, ...

Teaching Data Science? Frame the course in the context of data pipelines!

This gives structure to the big picture, allows for a natural scaffolding, and supports a critical look at common pitfalls along the pipeline.

Producing knowledge in/of/for Myanmar’s borderlands - Tea Circle The authors reflect on the politics of producing borderland knowledge in Myanmar after the coup.

8/ We hope this piece resonates and highlights ongoing efforts to shift knowledge politics in Myanmar, as part of longer struggles over centre-periphery relations.

Read it here: 👉 teacirclemyanmar.com/education/pr...

#Myanmar #WhatsHappeninginMyanmar

Forgetful by Design? A Critical Audit of YouTube's Search API for Academic Research This paper critically audits the search endpoint of YouTube's Data API (v3), a common tool for academic research. Through systematic weekly searches over six months using eleven queries, we identify m...

YouTube's API search function is "not adequate for robust academic research, especially concerning Digital Services Act requirements".

Clear and problematic conclusions by @riederb.bsky.social Adrian Padilla & Oscar Coromina

#commsky #DSA #dataacess #youtube

arxiv.org/abs/2506.11727

The Coming Age of Tech Trillionaires and the Challenge to Democracy | TechPolicy.Press Tech Policy Press is a nonprofit media and community venture intended to provoke new ideas, debate and discussion at the intersection of technology and democracy. We publish opinion and analysis.

For more on The Coming Age of Tech Trillionaires and the Challenge to Democracy series: www.techpolicy.press/category/the...

"Global South human rights advocates face unique and compounded challenges as they work to resist Big Tech-mediated repression... Tackling these pressing challenges requires a genuinely multistakeholder approach."

Lessons from Resisting Big Tech Power in Southeast Asia | TechPolicy.Press It is more important than ever for Western donors to champion the inclusion of digital rights in their development aid agendas, writes Mai Van Tran.

As part of a @techpolicypress.bsky.social series, I reflect on lessons in resisting Big Tech power from the Global South, based on comparative research of Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.

Your weekend read: www.techpolicy.press/lessons-from...

CD2I Researcher Mai Van Tran contributes to discussion on Big Tech-mediated authoritarianism at the Indo-Pacific Roundtable 2025 CD2I Researcher Mai Van Tran contributes to discussion on Big Tech-mediated authoritarianism at the Indo-Pacific Roundtable 2025

Grateful for the opportunity to share our research on Big Tech-mediated authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and connect with regional experts at the Indo-Pacific Roundtable 2025!

www.brussels-school.be/output/news/...

Please also consider donating to ongoing earthquake relief efforts in Myanmar: www.mutualaidmyanmar.org/earthquake 6/6

We are sincerely grateful to all of our thoughtful participants, colleagues, and reviewers. Feel free to take a look at our work as part of The Future of Democracy collection on Open Research Europe: doi.org/10.12688/ope... 5/6

We find that such advocacy is more likely to curtail Big Tech-mediated repression when advocacy actors focus on demands that resonate with Western platform governance agenda, engage prominent international allies to amplify the demands, and represent the experiences of marginalised dissidents. 4/6

We compare platform advocacy efforts from Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia during 2018-2024, blending qualitative insight from expert interviews covering the major digital platforms with quantitative analysis of public Facebook content and Meta’s self-reported data on its moderation practice. 3/6

It encompasses transnational advocacy efforts toward Global North tech giants to defend free speech. We ask: To what extent might pro-democracy platform advocacy affect Big Tech’s content governance practices in order to curb platform-mediated repression in the Global South? 2/6

📣 New open-access publication
As authoritarian actors have increasingly turned to Big Tech platforms to repress dissidents, pro-democracy activism has experienced notable changes. Our latest research examines an under-analysed yet important phenomenon of pro-democracy platform advocacy 🧵1/6

Now you can directly download our guides via our Telegram chatbot! Check it out: t.me/DigidefBot 🤳

I also shared more about what motivated this project here: www.brussels-school.be/output/news/...

Our team interviewed digital rights advocates and activists representing marginalised groups from Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia on how their communities built resilience against digital harassment. Then, with support by WITNESS, we have turned our research findings into tailored suggestions. 2/2

DIGITAL DEFENCE RESOURCES Explore solutions for digital harassment issues, based on academic research of Myanmar, Thailand, and Cambodia.

📣 DIGITAL DEFENCE RESOURCES

As part of the EU-funded “Pro-democracy platform advocacy" project, our resources suggest solutions for specific harassment problems, based on our academic research.

The resources are available in English, Burmese, Khmer and Thai. Check them out: www.digidef.info 1/2

Join me next Wednesday (7 May) online or at LSE's Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, where I'll share my team's latest research on how major digital platforms’ negligence and incompetence in algorithmic content governance as well as their performative accountability to vulnerable users in small markets might facilitate authoritarian repression.

Join me next Wednesday (7 May), where I'll share my team's latest research on how major digital platforms’ negligence and incompetence in algorithmic content governance as well as their performative accountability might facilitate authoritarian repression.

www.lse.ac.uk/seac/events/...

Apply to Present Your Work! Complete the form to be considered for the Authoritarian Political Systems Group Fall 2025 Season. Read the Seminar Rules before applying.

The Call for Papers for our Fall 2025 Workshop series is now OPEN! Polisky Dictatorsky
To apply complete this form by May 31st: forms.gle/SvZv98ke4QUT...
You can find more information here on the CfP: apsg.work/cfp/

Hope to have you join our discussion tomorrow! #TransnationalAdvocacy #PlatformGovernance #SEA

Want to specialise in EU digital policy? 💻📊
The Brussels School of Governance (VUB) offers a Data and Digitalisation track in its Advanced Master on European Governance (EuroMaster) – an evening programme for students and professionals.
Explore AI, data governance and digital markets in the EU:

Better Feeds: Algorithms That Put People First – Knight-Georgetown Institute

🚨 NEW REPORT – Better Feeds: Algorithms That Put People First 🚨
As policymakers around the globe grapple with addressing concerns about algorithms, KGI’s new report offers guidance on improving the design of algorithmic systems that shape billions of users’ digital lives.
bit.ly/3QzxVzq