media
podcast, writing, and media appearances
Media Impact
This work has received sustained international media attention across science journalism, policy media, national newspapers, and podcasts.
Coverage includes outlets such as Science, The Guardian, The Atlantic, New Scientist, Business Insider, and Tech Policy Press, with repeated attention to research on misinformation, polarization, platform design, and AI-driven social simulation.
Podcast
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2025-09-26Quirks & Quarks (CBC)Tracking Grizzlies in B.C with AI and more…
Episode page · Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- 2025-09-29Sean Carroll's MindscapeEpisode 330: Petter Törnberg on the Dynamics of (Mis)Information
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2025-09-29Singularity.FM (Nikola Danaylov)Petter Törnberg on Algorithmic Tyranny, the Rise of Digital Modernity and Seeing Like a Platform
Episode page · Apple Podcasts page · Spotify show page
- 2025-08-13New Books Network (New Work in Digital Humanities)Seeing Like a Platform (with Justus Uitermark)
- 2025-08-31The Tech Policy Press Podcast'Seeing Like a Platform' - A Conversation with Petter Tornberg
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2025-12-10Outrage OverloadOutrage 78 - When AI Becomes the Most Persuasive Voice in the Room
Episode page · Spotify show page
- 2023-09-04Data SkepticLLMs in Social Science
Writing
- 2025-07-01NOEMA Magazine (essay)The Ascendance of Algorithmic Tyranny
Media Appearances and Interviews
2025
- 2025-08-21Science Magazine (interview/feature)Don't blame the algorithms for online polarization
- 2025-08-28The Week (feature)What an all-bot social network tells us about social media
- 2025-08-23New Scientist (issue feature)Algorithms not to blame for social media toxicity
- 2025-08-20UNN (Ukraine, syndication)Scientists created a social network of bots: what they learned
- 2025-08-19Futurism (tech news)Scientists Created an Entire Social Network Where Every User Is a Bot, and Something Wild Happened
- 2025-08-14Business Insider (feature)Researchers built a social network made of AI bots. They quickly formed cliques, amplified extremes, and let a tiny elite dominate.
- 2025-08-14AOL (syndication)Researchers built a social network made of AI bots
- 2025-08-12getcoai.com (AI news recap)Study finds platform design, not algorithms, drives social media toxicity
- 2025-02-12BNNVARA Joop (NL)Extreemrechtse politici verspreiden op grote schaal nepnieuws, komt bij andere partijen nauwelijks voor
- 2025-02-11The Guardian (global)Far-right populists much more likely than the left to spread fake news - study
- 2025-02-11NL TimesFar-right populists in Netherlands more likely to spread misinformation, study finds
- 2025-02-01PAL ('t Pallieterke)Radicaal-rechts voornaamste bron van misinformatie?
- 2025-01-24Folia (EN)Disinformation turns out to be a political strategy of radical-right populists
- 2025-01-24Folia (NL)Desinformatie populaire strategie onder radicaal-rechtse populisten
- 2025-01-20University of Amsterdam (NL)Radicaal rechtse populisten ondermijnen democratie bewust met desinformatie
- 2025-01-13University of Amsterdam (EN)Radical right populists deliberately undermining democracy with misinformation
2024
- 2024-05-18The Atlantic (feature)The Algorithmic Radicalization of Taylor Swift
- 2024-01-31Carnegie Endowment (policy guide)Countering Disinformation Effectively: An Evidence-Based Policy Guide
2023
- 2023-11-16The Hustle (feature)An AI experiment made a surprisingly pleasant Twitter
- 2023-11-14Business Insider (feature/interview)500 chatbots read the news and discussed it on simulated Twitter. Their conversations were less toxic than those of humans.
- 2023-11-14Search Engine Journal (industry media)Can AI Make Social Media Less Toxic? A Chatbot Study Shows Promise
- 2023-11-14UvA FNWI in de media (roundup)November 2023 media roundup
- 2023-10-31UvA FNWI in de media (roundup)October 2023 media roundup
- 2023-10-19New Scientist (feature)Hundreds of chatbots could show us how to make social media less toxic
- 2023-08-16The Atlantic (feature)TikTok Is Opening a Parallel Dimension in Europe
- 2023-01-12Tech Policy Press (policy analysis)Reviewing the Evidence on Social Media and Social Cohesion
- 2023ILLC (UvA) People in the MediaIn the media archive (2023)
2022
- 2022-12-07The Atlantic (analysis/interview)It's Not Filter Bubbles That Are Driving Us Apart
- 2022-10-13Tech Policy Press (interview)Model Suggests Digital Media Contributing to "Maelstrom of Societal Division"
2018
- 2018-09-20PLOS ONE (journal + media tab)Echo chambers and viral misinformation: Modeling fake news as complex contagion