SOCI3727: Digital Culture: Moral Panics and Conspiracy Thinking in Sociological Perspective(s)

• At least 20 credits of level 2 modules from the Department of Sociology.

• None.

• None.

• This module is designed to:
• Address the question of whether distributed digital networks escalate forms of virtual harm (harmful speech acts), in particular the incitement to perform various forms of hate-crime, and the spread of moral panics and conspiracy theories.
• Address the question of whether distributed networks increase knowledge or ignorance in relation to citizen witnessing, conspiracy theories, moral panics, fake-news and mis-/dis-information online.
• Build upon and develop the knowledge and understanding gained from other relevant modules of study.
• Explore, within a sociological and (grounded) criminological conceptual framework, theoretical understandings of content crime in the information age (the third of the three core online crime types crime against the machine, crime using the machine, crime in the machine).
• Discuss the role of law and other forms of regulation within the framework of control.
• Examine the nature and role of new media representations in relation to their potential contribution to increasing freedom of speech and virtual harms.

• Themes to be discussed will include:
• Do digital networks have real consequences in the sense of what Castells calls real virtuality?
• Have digital networks afforded new forms of protest and social movements around the world, or is this claim misleading?
• Did unmediated media, such as in the example of beheading videos, have the political or cultural effects those posting such content desire (radicalisation and/or intimidation)? Does such content corrupt and deprave in the way obscenity legislation assumes?
• Is the Internet at least partially responsible for an escalation of conspiracy theory and moral panics today?
• Is the Internet generating more fake-news, or has it produced greater knowledge of hidden issues, such as is claimed by advocates of new forms of citizen witnessing?
• If the Internet generates more fake-news, yet has also produced greater knowledge of hidden issues, such as is claimed by advocates of new forms of citizen witnessing, how far should the Internet be censored: how, by whom and by what criteria?
• Has the Internet empowered new types of hidden persuaders when it comes to advertising and political manipulation (such as over Brexit and Donald Trumps 2016 election victory)?
• If the Internet has created a golden age for whistle blowers, and undermined the ability of traditional news organisations to engage in impartial/objective and investigative journalism, can more truth overcome post-truth?
• In an age of Twitter followings, and social media tribes, is the public sphere now more democratic and inclusive, more divided and hostile, or both?
• Indicative outline of content and structure for the module (this outline is purely indicative and would be flexible and subject to alteration):
• 1. Castells real virtuality and 2016s County Durham Killer clowns;
• 2. Networks of Outrage and Hope? Digital networks and new political movements;
• 3. Did beheading videos have the political effects terrorists desire? The rise of unmediated media;
• 4. Conspiracy theories: history, academic accounts and network effects?
• 5. The other pandemic: the case of QAnon online;
• 6. Can fake news kill: the case of Covid 19 denial, Anti-Vax (and 5G);
• 7. Good moral panics/conspiracy theories? Black Lives Matter and white supremacy;
• 8. Good moral panic/conspiracy theories? #MeToo ending silence and the patriarchy;
• 9. The new hidden persuaders: Brexit, Trump, Putin and Facebook;
• 10. Digital Whistle Blowers: Anonymous, WikiLeaks, Snowden.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• Upon successful completion of this module, students will have demonstrated:
• A knowledge and critical understanding of the ways in which sociological and criminological perspectives can be applied to the study of incitement and virtual harms in the information age.
• A knowledge and understanding of major theoretical work on the question of technical affordances, incitement and virtual harms.
• A critical appreciation of the complex methodological problems and ethical issues involved in researching harm and incitement in the information age.
• Knowledge and understanding of the nature and role of media representations in the information age as both knowledge and performative action.

Subject-specific Skills:

• Critically evaluate relevant arguments and evidence.
• Formulate informed questions with specific reference to relevant issues and debates pertaining to specific forms of online content.
• Employ abstract concepts and use these concepts to express an understanding of specific forms of transgressive content in the information age.

Key Skills:

• By the end of the module, students should demonstrate:
• an ability to gather appropriate information about the subject area from a range of different online and offline sources.
• an understanding of the nature and relative value of those sources.
• an ability to construct systematic and coherent written arguments.

• Weekly lectures will provide the framework within which to explore virtual harms and more positive forms of transgressive knowledge dissemination online.
• Fortnightly seminars will provide an opportunity for seminar tutors to work with small groups, exploring in greater depth, and collectively, themes and issues arising from the lectures and associated reading. A proportion of seminars will be structured around student presentations. For these, students will work beforehand in twos/threes on a topic congruent with the learning outcomes for this module, as indicated in the Module Programme.
• An optional formative essay linked to seminar presentation topic provides students with opportunities to enhance subject-specific knowledge, subject-specific skill and key skills. Feedback on the formative assignment enables students to critically reflect on the development of their knowledge and skill.
• Summative: The summative essay enable students to demonstrate their achievement and understanding of a specific topic in depth and to construct a systematic discussion within word-limited constraints.

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