Laura Edelson
@LauraEdelson2
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Assistant Professor, Northeastern University Co-Director, C4D Formerly: Chief Technologist, DoJ Antitrust Division, DOJ Civil Rights Division
Boston
Joined January 2020
New work by me from @knightcolumbia : Into the Driver's Seat with Algorithmic Feeds. Wonder how, exactly, how social media algorithmic feeds work? They're incredibly opaque, so I've spent years building a framework for measuring and explaining them. Buckle up and come with me!🧵
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RT @ProMarket_org: NEW: Filippo Lancieri (@GeorgetownLaw), @LauraEdelson2 (@KhouryCollege), Stefan Bechtold (@eth_cle) explore how the poli….
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I think my kid is getting a deeply strange view of the world from the only three print publications I subscribe to, @TheOnion , IEEE Spectrum, and Wired. Is this why the NY Times has any print subscribers?.
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RT @OpenTechFund: .@ChinaFile’s Jessica Batke and @LauraEdelson2, authors of a new report that reshapes our understanding of Chinese censor….
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I talked to @NorthropKatrina for this piece on China's digital ID system. It's a great example of two key features of the Locknet: 1) different aspects of the censorship system reinforce each other, and 2) pushing the policeman into citizens heads.
washingtonpost.com
China is launching a digital ID system, giving Beijing greater control over online activity and further raising concerns about surveillance and censorship.
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RT @ChinaFile: NEW: A ChinaFile investigation into China's powerful, but leaky, internet censorship system at 1/21….
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RT @grittygrease: Good read: a detailed and accessible report published on @chinafile by Jessica Batke and Laura Edelson on China's interne….
locknet.chinafile.com
June 30, 2025 The man gazes earnestly into the camera, the glow from his computer monitor reflecting off his black-rimmed glasses. “This is more than just a cultural moment,” he says with a smile....
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RT @GreatFireChina: The Locknet: How China Controls Its Internet and Why It Matters -> very important and updated review of censorship mech….
locknet.chinafile.com
June 30, 2025 The man gazes earnestly into the camera, the glow from his computer monitor reflecting off his black-rimmed glasses. “This is more than just a cultural moment,” he says with a smile....
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RT @thepostdoctoral: Northeastern research breaches 'The Great Firewall' to look at Chinese censorship - Northeastern professor Laura Edels….
news.northeastern.edu
Northeastern professor Laura Edelson calls a framework for understanding Chinese censorship “The Locknet” for its resemblance to water locks.
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Can anyone help me identity this mushroom? It grew up in just a few days in my garden, and it’s currently over a foot wide. I’m definitely not going to eat it, I’m just curious!
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RT @DanBuk4: Cory @Doctorow On The Evils Of #Copyright Law, w/ @MightyHeaton @zittrain @LauraEdelson2 @jimmy_wales….
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RT @AsiaSociety: What IS the internet, really?. Computer scientist @LauraEdelson2 and #China researcher Jessica Batke discuss some of what….
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RT @OpenTechFund: Supported by @OpenTechFund: @ChinaFile’s Jessica Batke & @LauraEdelson2 explain that Chinese censorship isn’t simply a “f….
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RT @BrookingsGov: This week on the #TechTank Podcast, @billbaer50 speaks with @RKSlaughterFTC and @dohamekki about the antitrust cases aga….
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RT @DanBuk4: How #Enshittification Conquered The 21st Century & How We Can Overthrow It: @Doctorow @CloudFest @sfwa….
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And the full paper (open access too!) is available here:
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Tech Bulletin coverage here, by@jeremybmerrill.com.
washingtonpost.com
Study finds Facebook usually takes down posts too late to prevent most people from viewing them.
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Content removal was rare: Only .7% of content was removed. Median time of removal was ~21 hrs. Because of how late that is in the attention lifecycle, takedowns didn't have much impact on user experience: we estimate only 24% of attention the posts would have gotten was deterred.
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Median half-life of attention (time to 50% of total engagement) was 3 hrs, but give the big disparity in attention, it's also worth looking at the high-engagement content specifically. The top 1% of content in the US still only had a half-life of 13.6 hrs. Time to 80% is 21 hrs.
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Asymmetry of attention: Some posts get a lot more views/engagement than others, but how wide is the gap? We used the Gini Index to measure. For reference, income inequality in the US come in at 41.6. Engagement inequality on Facebook is .92! 1% of posts got 58% of all engagement.
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