Sahana Udupa: Shaping the Future of Digital Discourse
Sahana Udupa stands at the forefront of media anthropology at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU Munich) in Germany, dedicated to redefining how digital spaces function. Her mission is amplified through the establishment of the Center for Digital Dignity, an innovative international coalition uniting researchers, influencers in policy, and community organizations. This initiative aims to cultivate an environment where political discourse can thrive online, free from toxicity.
Her illustrious career is marked by extensive research and publication on crucial topics such as the nature of extreme speech online, misinformation, the complexities of content supervision, perspectives on decolonial approaches, digital culture phenomena, and the ever-evolving governance of digital platforms. In a pivotal work commissioned by global authorities, she discussed the intricacies of managing virtual spaces in her paper, “Digital technology and extreme speech: Approaches to counter online hate”. This study recognized the universal hurdles posed by platform governance and the convolution brought about by harmful dialogue and unchecked information dissemination across social media landscapes.
In a notable academic accomplishment, her 2024 article, “Ethical scaling: Extreme speech and the (in)significance of artificial intelligence”, co-authored with experts Antonis Maronikolakis and Axel Wisiorek, received the prestigious International Communication Association Outstanding Article Award. This accolade underscores her profound impact on the field of communication studies.
Udupa’s work is acknowledged globally, having earned several honors, including a Fellowship at a major policy institution, a prestigious chair in academia, and substantial grants for groundbreaking research from the European Research Council (ERC). These acknowledgments propel her current and future projects, specifically an ambitious cross-national study on contentious discourse spreading across minor social media platforms. Running from 2024 to 2029, this study benefits from a significant ERC consolidator grant, bolstering her efforts to explore and understand digital conversations.
In addition to these responsibilities, she is spearheading an international collective at the LMU Center for Advanced Studies, focusing on encrypted communication channels and the phenomena of extreme speech. This group is on the brink of releasing a co-edited volume examining the ramifications of messaging applications on societal discourse, published by a renowned press.
Sahana Udupa’s leadership transcends academia, as she is an esteemed Fellow of an international communication body, participates in an advisory capacity for research missions, and influences the direction of pivotal academic journals through her involvement on editorial panels.
Her work represents a beacon for those seeking to navigate and improve the digital dialogue climate. Her initiatives signify a critical movement towards creating digital arenas where freedom of expression is balanced by a respect for dignity, aiming for a comprehensive benefit to all users of digital communication technologies.
