Associate professor of global digital media at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Jonathan Corpus Ong is the author of two books and over 25 journal articles in the areas of media ethics, humanitarian communication, and digital politics. In his recent disinformation studies research, Ong uses ethnography to understand the social identities, work arrangements, and moral justifications of “paid trolls” and political public relations strategists. He is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Convergence Accelerator grant to collaborate with Asian-American community media to better respond to racially targeted disinformation.
An engaged researcher, Ong has a long record of working closely with humanitarian and human rights organizations. His humanitarian research shaped policy debates about humanitarian accountability and localizing aid at the World Humanitarian Summit. His disinformation research influenced campaign finance policy in Philippine elections and social media platforms’ content policy about inter-Asian racist speech.
His project, “Human Costs of Disinformation,” advances his advocacy for worker justice and wellness by investigating work conditions in the “disinformation interventions industry” and exploring global funding structures as well as the digital harms experienced by pro-democracy frontliners in a global context.
Twitter:
@jonathan_c_ong
