Technology & Information

Policy Institute

Researching how technology contributes to economic, political, and social change.

Reverse-engineering political protest: the Russian Internet Research Agency in the Heart of Texas

For a new study recently published in Information, Communication & Society, TIPI looked at protests in Houston, Texas that occurred prior to the 2016 elections and which had been connected to the Russian Internet Research Agency-sponsored Facebook page ‘Heart of Texas.’

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Mind games: A temporal sentiment analysis of the political messages of the Internet Research Agency on Facebook and Twitter

Drawing on the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA)’s propaganda campaign on social media platforms during the 2016 presidential election, the TIPI research team analyzed 3.5K Facebook ads and 3M tweets to examine sentiment and content appeals.

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Strong Local Ties Help Texas Coastal Libraries Survive and Thrive During the Pandemic
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has been a disaster that most librarians and people around the world felt unprepared for, librarians that reported strong ties with local city and county level...
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Broadband as a Utility – Roundtable Discussion
TIPI's Dr. Sharon Strover recently joined Professor Sherri Greenberg and Dr. Kenneth Flamm for a conversation on broadband as a utility in Texas with Dr. Art Markman and the IC² Institute.
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Behind the Scenes Efforts of Disaster Knowledge Workers

We are excited to announce the publication of our latest article “A different type of disaster response volunteer: Looking behind the scenes to reveal coordinating actions of disaster knowledge workers” in the Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management.

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Our Focus

Digital Equity

Institutions & Communication

New Media & Information

Disasters & Risk

Future of Work

Our Work

Projects

With assistance from donors, sponsors and partners, TIPI works on projects involving everything from library-based hotspots to Russian misinformation campaigns on Facebook. We’ve also recently concluded a 10-year digital media program with scholars and students from Portugal.

Events

Throughout the academic year, TIPI hosts luncheons, a digital media speaker series, lecture series, conferences, and other special events for the benefit of our students, faculty and the greater UT Austin community. 

Publications

TIPI faculty and students publish policy briefs, full reports, and research papers on topics related to digital media, technological transformation, digital inclusion and other information policy issues.

Our Partners & Sponsors