No. 115/2023

28 HUMBOLDT KOSMOS 115/2023 CLOSE UP ON RESEARCH T he fact that Margaret E. Roberts is currently researching into censorship and the influence of social media platforms on people’s decision- making is due to a coincidence. Or rather, a discovery the American made quite by chance. When Roberts, known as Molly, began working on her doctorate at Harvard in 2009, she actually intended to focus on international trade relations. She had previously studied international relations and economics at Stanford and received a Master’s in statistics there. She had, moreover, taken Chinese language classes and repeatedly spent time in China. “I was very interested in the rapid growth of the Chinese economy at that time and wanted to use data Margaret E. Roberts’ research field could not be more pertinent. With the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning, the political scientist and data researcher investigates the Internet censorship practices of authoritarian states. Furnished with a Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award, she is now examining the role of social media platforms. Text MARLENE HALSER SHE MONITORS THE MONITORING This entry has been deleted.