Zeve Sanderson
Zeve Sanderson is the founding Executive Director of NYU's Center for Social Media and Politics. His research, which uses computational and experimental methods to study the digital information environment, has been published in Nature, Journal of Experimental Political Science, Journal of Online Trust & Safety, and more. He speaks regularly to the media, civil society organizations, and tech companies. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, Slate, The Hill, and Brookings, among other popular outlets. Outside of NYU, he consults for international NGOs supporting information integrity efforts.
Related Research & News
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Policy
The State of State Technology Policy: 2024 Report
In the absence of federal regulation, states continue to lead the development of technology policy in the United States, passing 238 bills in 46 states in 2024, a 163 percent increase from last year.
December 12, 2024
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Policy
Feedback on the EU's Digital Services Act
The European Commission's Digital Services Act is a critical step towards supporting data access for independent research. We submitted comments on this legislation, advocating for structures and mechanisms that would ensure secure and standardized data sharing.
December 9, 2024
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Journal Article
Measuring Receptivity to Misinformation at Scale on a Social Media Platform
PNAS Nexus, 2024
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Journal Article
A Multi-Stakeholder Approach for Leveraging Data Portability to Support Research on the Digital Information Environment
Journal of Online Trust and Safety, 2024
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Journal Article
Digital Town Square? Nextdoor's Offline Contexts and Online Discourse
Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media, 2024
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Commentary
People Trust Themselves More Than They Trust the News. They Shouldn’t.
New research finds that Americans’ skepticism about news, which often drives people to use search engines to “do their own research,” could actually make them more misinformed.
March 12, 2024
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Policy
Beyond Competition: Designing Data Portability to Support Research on the Digital Information Environment
Although portability is often considered through a competition lens, policymakers and companies should understand its potential impact on policy-relevant research efforts and ensure that portability can support research on the impacts of digital platforms and services.
February 26, 2024
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Commentary
Misunderstood Mechanics: How AI, TikTok, and the Liar’s Dividend Might Affect the 2024 Elections
The widespread reach and accessibility of AI will undoubtedly change the information landscape ahead of global elections in 2024. But rather than letting overblown fears dominate public discourse, we can draw on previous research to better understand and mitigate risks.
January 22, 2024
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Journal Article
Online Searches to Evaluate Misinformation Can Increase its Perceived Veracity
Nature, 2024
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Journal Article
Testing the Effect of Information on Discerning the Veracity of News in Real Time
Journal of Experimental Political Science, 2023
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Policy
Beyond Red Teaming: Facilitating User-Based Data Donation to Study Generative AI
Just like social media, a key challenge to studying the public's use of generative AI is the lack of data. AI companies could solve this by making it easier for users to donate their data to research.
November 1, 2023
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Policy
White House OSTP Comments on AI
In response to the Biden-Harris Administration's public request for information on mitigating the risks of AI, we submitted comments highlighting the importance of transparent standards for identifying and labeling AI generated content online.
July 7, 2023
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Commentary
Twitter Was Central to American Politics. Musk’s Ownership Puts That at Risk.
Since taking over at Twitter, Elon Musk's personal beliefs have had an outsized influence on the platform. As its content and user base evolve, it's unclear whether a Musk owned Twitter can maintain the platform's central role in the American political media landscape.
May 25, 2023
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Policy
Feedback on EU Article 40
In response to the European Commission's Digital Services Act, we submitted comments highlighting the importance of data access for independent research and suggested standards for data access mechanisms.
May 23, 2023
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Commentary
Musk’s Twitter Shake-Up Could Deliver a Critical Blow to Social Media Research
We still don’t know the extent of what Musk has actually changed within Twitter. But without mandated data access for researchers, we risk never knowing their impact on society as well.
November 9, 2022
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Commentary
Big Tech Must Step Up Now to Fight Misinformation in the Midterms
As 2022 candidates embrace Trump's Big Lie, social platforms are reducing election integrity efforts. What should they do to safeguard the midterms?
July 10, 2022
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Commentary
How to Evaluate Elon Musk’s (Potential) Impact On Twitter
There are three areas — content moderation, transparency, and data access — to watch closely as Musk takes ownership of Twitter.
April 26, 2022
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Analysis
Gender-Based Online Violence Spikes After Prominent Media Attacks
Our research finds that after a prominent male media personality targets a female journalist, the prevalence of hateful speech targeting those journalists increases in the immediate aftermath, often taking days to decrease.
January 26, 2022
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Commentary
A Modest Ox: Examining Two Approaches to Testing Crowdsourced Fact Checking
Crowdsourced fact-checking, far from being a panacea to our so-called information disorder, could potentially be one tool in what certainly needs to be a much larger toolkit to discern facts in a complex ecosystem.
December 10, 2021
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Commentary
Academic Researchers Need Access to the Facebook Papers
With access to these documents, scholars could support the media, public, and policymakers in identifying where Facebook’s internal research is conclusive, what inferences can be drawn, which topics require more evidence and future research, and what that research should be.
November 4, 2021
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