Dr. Neil Johnson is a professor of physics at George Washington University who leads a new project there that -- in their words -- combines cross-disciplinary fundamental research with data science to attack complex real-world problems. In our case, we’re obviously interested in how he and his colleagues are mapping the vast and complicated world of online hate.

He came to our attention after some of his research was mentioned during a recent U.S. Senate Hearing on Violence, Extremism & Digital Responsibility. We have abundant evidence that shows us that online organizing and hate-speech can leap into instances of real world violence, so understanding how and why this world works is critically important. Dr. Johnson’s research revealed a number of surprising things about how these networks emerge and interact, and he describes a few pretty provocative ways that what he calls “hate clusters” could be addressed or at least made less effective.

His team has created a literal online map of these hate clusters, and you can find links to their research below. Their work is a really powerful example of how methods from an different fields of research -- in this case, physics -- can be brought to bear in finding solutions to problems that are making our world more dangerous.

Referenced in this episode:

“Novel Mapping Model Tracks How Hate Spreads and Adapts Online.” GWToday, August 21, 2019.

“The physics professor who says online extremists act like curdled milk.” The Guardian, August 23, 2019.

“U.S. Senate hearing on Violence, Extremism and Digital Responsibility.” C-Span, September 18, 2019