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This is a Berkman Klein alum page. The information below may be out of date.

Nikki Bourassa is a Project Coordinator at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

She works on projects related to the phenomenon of harmful speech online and the effects of digital media on democracy. These projects build upon her background in international media development: she worked closely with civil society around the world to develop internet policy advocacy programs, and to implement digital security trainings for journalists, human rights defenders, and political activists. She graduated from Columbia University's Columbia College with a degree in Evolutionary Biology of the Human Species, and can describe to you in detail the controversies and consensus around human migration to the Americas, the effects of chronic cocaine use on the skull, and the politics of primates.

Nikki loves running, rowing, doing yoga, struggling through the New York Times' Thursday crossword puzzles, exploring new places, and trying new things.


Projects & Tools

AI: Media and Information Quality

As autonomous systems play an increasing role in selecting the content we see online, questions arise about AI's influence on human judgment, opinions, and perceptions.

Harmful Speech Online

The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is in the third year of a research, policy analysis, and network building effort devoted to the study of harmful speech, in close…


Publications

Aug 16, 2017

Partisanship, Propaganda, and Disinformation: Online Media and the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election

In this study, we analyze both mainstream and social media coverage of the 2016 United States presidential election.


News

Jul 12, 2018

Understanding Media and Information Quality in an Age of Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Algorithms and Machine Learning

Technology can be a threat to the integrity and quality of media, but also a source of potential solutions.

Oct 19, 2017

How Facebook Tries to Regulate Postings Made by Two Billion People

Berkman Klein Center hosts a day of conversation about reducing harmful speech online and hears from the Facebook executive in charge of platform moderation policies

The Berkman Klein Center community explores broader research questions and topics related to the challenges of keeping tabs on the daily social media interactions of hundreds of…


Community

Digital Journalism

Connecting the (Far-)Right Dots: A Topic Modeling and Hyperlink Analysis of (Far-)Right Media Coverage during the US Elections 2016

Research discusses the relevance of alternative media for the US (far-)right

Nov 5, 2019
The Guardian

Facebook teams with rightwing Daily Caller in factchecking program

Site co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson has promoted misinformation and is known for pro-Trump content

Apr 17, 2019