Professor Philip Howard

Professor Philip Howard  is a statutory Professor of Internet Studies at Balliol College at the University of Oxford. Howard investigates the impact of digital media on political life around the world, and he is a frequent commentator on global media and political affairs. He is a writer and a lead researcher on the Programme on Democracy & Technology (formerly Comprop), which investigates the use of algorithms and automation in civic life. Automated scripts, commonly called bots, are used on social media to manipulate conversation, make certain opinions appear more prevalent than they really are, and spread misinformation. He writes about information politics and international affairs, and he is the author of ten books, including The Managed Citizen, Pax Technica, and Computational Propaganda. He has won multiple best book awards, and his research and commentary writing has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many international media outlets. Foreign Policy magazine named him a ‘Global Thinker’ for 2018 and the National Democratic Institute awarded him their ‘Democracy Prize’ for pioneering the social science of fake news. Professor Howard has testified before the US Senate, UK House of Parliament, and European Commission on the causes and consequences of fake news and misinformation. His latest book is Lie Machines: How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives.