Kate Starbird

@katestarbird.bsky.social

89K followers 2.9K following 3.9K posts

Researcher of online rumors & disinformation. Former basketball player. Prof at University of Washington, HCDE. Co-founder of the UW Center for an Informed Public. Personal account: Views may not reflect those of my employer. #RageAgainstTheBullshitMachine .. more

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Catherine Evelyn Starbird is an American computer scientist and former women's professional basketball player.

Source: Wikipedia

Communication & Media Studies 30%

Sociology 18%

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Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · Mar 27

On Feb 24, I gave a lecture at UW explaining what my team's decade-plus research on online rumors during crises reveals about the right wing "bullshit machine." Fittingly, a lightning strike impacted the original audio. Here's a fixed version w/ the full transcript: www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjiG...

A Spotlight on Rumors

YouTube video by UW (University of Washington)

www.youtube.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 9h

Yes. Keep talking about it. Visibility is the first step. Then collective, mutual awareness that this is happening and that it’s wrong (ie I know that you know that I know it’s happening and it’s wrong). And then the growing sense that accountability is possible and (eventually) imminent.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 12h

Content moderation is hard. Someone is always mad at you. It’s hard to stay true to your own values (whether absolute free speech or a community free of hate & harassment) and balance all the other concerns & metrics. Tried to bring BlueSky drama into the convo, but undergrads were like Blue-what?

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 12h

In my Foundations of HCI class, we’re in the midst of our social computing section, thinking about how to address online toxicities. Had the students play Masnick’s “Trust & Safety Tycoon” game in class yesterday. Their reactions: moderation is HARD... www.techdirt.com/2023/10/17/t...

Reposted by Kate Starbird

MIT Election Lab @mitelectionlab.bsky.social · 12h

We're thrilled to be launching a new grant opportunity for election researchers & practitioners, aimed at improving the security, accuracy, and accessibility of voter registration systems + list maintenance practices. Find the full RFP along with more details on our website: buff.ly/YYouOTp

Practice-Oriented Research to Improve Voter Registration and List Maintenance | MIT Election Lab

Maintaining secure, accurate, and accessible voter registration rolls is an ongoing challenge that has come under increased political scrutiny in recent years.

electionlab.mit.edu

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 12h

Many of the “healthiest” people that I know (in terms of fitness) ended up with long COVID. Some are just starting to feel better.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 15h

The use of style and color in the fonts is one of my favorite features of these emails…

Reposted by Cailin O’Connor

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 15h

We’ve seen research showing LLM chatbots can reduce belief in conspiracy theories in experimental settings: scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=e...

But in the wild, it seems that these tools likely contribute to strengthening belief in conspiracy theories for many.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 15h

I have a whole folder of these too! They are really fascinating. I hadn’t noticed the LLM changes, but will look for them!

Reposted by Kate Starbird, James M. Thomas

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 1d

Eleventh Circuit throws out Trump's suit against CNN in a per curiam unpublished ruling. Meaning Trump's arguments were totally meritless, not even worthy of a published opinion. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Reposted by Kate Starbird

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 1d

6/Neo-royalism asks what happens to international politics when small groups of hyper elites (royalist cliques) become the central actor in world politics rather than the state. In short, tribute/extraction and exceptionalism replace rules and sovereign equality. Its all about the squeeze.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Robert Wolfe, Kate Starbird

Abe Newman @abenewman.bsky.social · 1d

1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...

www.dropbox.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 2d

It pays to be a contrarian. Attention is god.

Reposted by David S. Cohen, Smith, Jelena Subotić , and 3 more David S. Cohen, Smith, Jelena Subotić, Kate Starbird, Kathleen Kennedy, Annette Yoshiko Reed

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 3d

Look, I know this weaponization of male academic interest is the oldest story in the book, but it’s just so, so pernicious. It’s awful to the women directly involved, but it’s also awful to *all* women in the academy, who have to live in its shadow all the time.

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 3d

I mean

Josh Chafetz @joshchafetz.bsky.social · 3d

I mean

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve been thinking that science is increasingly sullied by its close association with tech. And that’s only going to get worse as AI delivers more and more wealth to the very very rich.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 4d

offs

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 4d

I hadn't thought about that, but the gambling-to-officiating vector (for harassment and potential manipulation) is another one that needs to be understood as well.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 4d

Happpening in women’s sports too. Anywhere we see sports betting, we’re going to see threats and harassment follow.

The Athletic @theathletic.com · 5d

The Athletic polled hundreds of players from across the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL about their opinions surrounding how sports betting impacts players — the responses were haunting.

Reposted by Alan Richardson, Kate Starbird, Anne Hilborn

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 5d

They unilaterally canceled a faculty hiring initiative so successful it’s become a national model. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

UC to Stop Funding Systemwide Postdoc Program

Established in 1984 to encourage women and minority Ph.D.s to pursue academia, the program has attracted right-wing criticism for prioritizing diverse candidates.

www.insidehighered.com

Reposted by Kate Starbird, Ann Bartow, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò , and 1 more Kate Starbird, Ann Bartow, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Dana Howard

The Athletic @theathletic.com · 5d

The Athletic polled hundreds of players from across the NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL about their opinions surrounding how sports betting impacts players — the responses were haunting.

Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Julie L. Lockwood, Laurent Pech , and 2 more Jan W. Mueller, Julie L. Lockwood, Laurent Pech, Kate Starbird, Ann Bartow

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 5d

A huge district court victory for the University of California.

District courts find facts. This one found "overwhelming evidence" that the Trump administration has pervasively violated the First Amendment in its efforts to coerce and intimidate the University of California.

News story here—

‘Unlawful coercion’: Trump can’t withhold funds or demand payment from UC, federal judge rules

A federal judge ruled Donald Trump cannot demand that UCLA pay a $1.2 billion settlement that would have restricted academic freedoms.

calmatters.org

Reposted by David G. Rand

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 5d

Preprint w/ (rapid) analysis of Grokipedia, showing it to be “highly derivative of Wikipedia”, but differing, often on controversial topics, in that Grokipedia includes content/cites from low quality (hyper partisan & conspiracy laden) sources like Stormfront & Infowars. arxiv.org/pdf/2511.09685

arxiv.org

Reposted by Kate Starbird

Nicole Bedera @nbedera.bsky.social · 5d

In case it’s helpful:

bookshop.org/p/books/on-t...

On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence

How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence

bookshop.org

Reposted by Michael D. McDonald, Kate Starbird

Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 5d

Scoop from @abbyvesoulis.bsky.social & me: new docs obtained by @weareoversight.bsky.social show DHS trying to obtain drivers license data from all 50 states to weaponize Trump’s false claims of voter fraud & possibly remove voters from rolls before midterms www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

New docs show DHS is gathering drivers’ license data in voter fraud crusade

Experts worry the Trump administration will use the info to disenfranchise voters.

www.motherjones.com

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 5d

I think the challenge for teams will be as ownership expands into more diverse groups (not traditional WBB fans) or changes hands (increasingly into very very rich folks, often from tech and/or other parts of the world) — how to push that ownership to retain commitments to core values of the league.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 5d

Hard agree. We have Rough and Tumble here in Seattle. And I think there's another women's sports focused bar opening up with the same ownership.

Reposted by Kate Starbird

The Boston Globe @bostonglobe.com · 5d

The Trump administration’s mass deportation push has upended life in New England. Immigrants detained at work. Families dragged from cars by ICE. Teenagers arrested.

Our newsletter “Immigration Unmasked” examines how this is playing out in your community. globe.com/immigrationunmasked

Reposted by Anne Applebaum, Jan W. Mueller, Roger A. Pielke , and 32 more Anne Applebaum, Jan W. Mueller, Roger A. Pielke, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Brendan Nyhan, Tom Clark, Scott L. Greer, Juan Cole, Joshua Goodman, Shelly Lundberg, Jonathan Hopkin, Laurent Pech, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, David R. Miller, John Palfrey, Andrew Jacobs, Scott A. Imberman, Bessma Momani, Brian Keegan, Kate Starbird, Mark Rice, Lisa Diedrich, Ann Bartow, Susan Strasser, Greg O’Brien, Georg Weizsäcker, Nathan Richardson, Daxton R. Stewart, Stephen I. Vladeck, Charles T. Mathewes, Nandini Gupta, David Darmofal, Jesse R. Lasky

Joe Fore @joefore.bsky.social · 5d

Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.

It's a surreal--and troubling--read.

drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...

Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 5d

MAGA’s ongoing war on academic freedom, reflected in headlines from the last 24 hours.

Kate Starbird @katestarbird.bsky.social · 6d

Perhaps not "watch" so much as fight to retain those progressive (anti-racist, pro-women, pro-LGBTQ) values that are embedded at the core of the WNBA, women's basketball, and many other women's sports.

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