Megan Knittel, Ph.D
I am a research scientist, educator, and community advocate. My passion lies with making the Internet a safe and equitable place for all users. I've done research with infertility online communities and survivors of tech-mediated intimate partner abuse. I've examined emerging challenges surrounding online health misinformation and online trust and safety policy. My research approach is also a fundamentally feminist and critical one. My preferred approaches are in community, using ethnography and other qualitative techniques, to understand the lives of everyday people as a window to insightful policy and design.
I'm currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media & Information at Michigan State University. I'm most interested in working with passionate, dedicated teams doing research on how to effectively address emerging issues related to online safety, content moderation, artificial intelligence and media effects, and other critical issues.
NEWS
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In September 2023, I presented my dissertation research on tech abuse alongside international colleagues at the European Domestic Violence Conference in Iceland.
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I had the opportunity to work as a Research Assistant with the Trust and Safety Foundation and Trust and Safety Professional Organization. I developed the History of Trust & Safety Archive, a first of its kind community resource to connect trust and safety professionals with interdisciplinary scholars and research programs. This work contributed to the broader History of Trust & Safety Project.
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In May 2022 I had the pleasure of giving invited lectures to University College London's Department of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Public Policy (click here) and Computer Science (click here).