My name is Samantha Bradshaw. I am the Director of the Center for Security, Innovation & New Technology at American University. I am also an Assistant Professor at American University’s School of International Service. I am also currently a Research Fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation and a member of the Expert Working Group on Gaming and Governance. Prior, I was a Perry World House Lightning Scholar, Fellow at Schmidt Futures International Strategy Forum (North America), as well as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Stanford University working at the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law the Digital Civil Society Lab, and the Program for Democracy and the Internet. I completed my D.Phil. in Information, Communication, and the Social Sciences at the Oxford Internet Institute in 2020.

My scholarship uses a mix of computational and qualitative methods to answer foundational questions about technology, geopolitics and governance. Much of my work has focused on disinformation & foreign influence operations on social media and the ways that platforms can enhance or constrain democratic practices around the globe. This includes my work mapping the global ecosystem of state-backed information operations, Russian state-media narratives about the war in Ukraine, or the gendered and racial dimensions of foreign influence operations. I also contribute to research about online trust and safety & platform governance, with a focus on social media and online gaming platforms. This includes my research investigating content moderation practices by social media platforms, or working with the Expert Working Group on Gaming & Governance to develop a new comprehensive rating systems for assessing online games. Finally, a third stream of my research examines the politics of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and quantum computing, and their implications for global power, environmental justice, and the security of critical infrastructure.

My research has generated significant academic and policy interest, as well as global media attention. I have published work in leading academic journals, including New Media & Society, Internet & Policy, Internet Technology & Regulation, American Behavioral Scientist, and the Columbia Journal of International Affairs. My research and public writing have been featured by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, the Globe and Mail, the Financial Times, and Bloomberg Magazine. I have spoke on expert-panels and have delivered keynote lectures around the world, including international organizations such as UNESCO and NATO.

I also advise a range of clients to provide policy and workshop facilitation. This includes working with journalists and fact-checkers on strategies to develop systems to track, monitor and assess information environments, advising governments and providing expert-witness testimony to several on going political processes in Canada, the United States, Singapore, and the United Kingdom, and collaborating with industry partners to conduct third-party assessments of information operation and takedown data.

Off the clock, you will usually find me in a video game lobby, chasing PRs at the gym, trying to break an escape room record, or indulging at a new must-try restaurant.