Jonathan Corpus Ong

Professor of Communication and Director of Global Technology for Social Justice Lab University of Massachusetts Amherst

  • Amherst MA

Jonathan Corpus Ong's research areas are global media ethics, digital politics and the anthropology of humanitarianism.

Contact

University of Massachusetts Amherst

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Expertise

Elections in the Philippines
Media Ethics
Global Media Studies
Critical Disinformation Studies
Sociology of Activist Organizations
Interethnic Racism and Solidarities
Anthropology of Humanitarianism and Human Rights
Politics in the Global South
Disinformation and Misinformation

Biography

Jonathan Corpus Ong is engaged in international policy debates related to disinformation, mediated public participation and digital humanitarianism.

Ong's research and advocacy work is centrally concerned with the moral and political consequences of media and digital technologies, particularly technological interventions in the context of development, humanitarianism, and media and democracy in the global majority.

He is the inaugural director of the Global Technology for Social Justice Lab, a hub for interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of critical tech studies and global studies.

Social Media

Video

Education

University of Cambridge

Ph.D.

Sociology

London School of Economics

M.Sc.

Politics and Communication

Loyola Schools - Ateneo de Manila

B.A.

Communication

Select Recent Media Coverage

Cool heads needed as political fringe dwellers spread disinformation after Trump shooting

The Guardian  online

2024-07-14

Jonathan Corpus Ong comments about the rapid spread of disinformation immediately after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally on Saturday. “It’s normal for people to be speculating and trying to make sense of what happened,” Ong said. “It’s important to be vigilant with what we consume, and also learn when to step back from fear-mongering narratives.”

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Solon wants stricter visa controls for Chinese applying as students, POGO workers

ABS-CBN News  online

2024-05-12

Jonathan Corpus Ong, associate professor in the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst, comments in an article about the call for stricter visa controls for Chinese workers and students in the Philippines.

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Proposed Philippine TikTok ban needs basis — experts

BusinessWorld  online

2023-11-30

Jonathan Corpus Ong comments on a proposal to ban TikTok in the Philippines. The proposal by public officials to outlaw the short-form video platform over surveillance concerns is indicative of “broader geopolitical tensions and our own state agencies wanting to show they’re falling in line with allies,” Ong says.

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Select Publications

Tech Bro Power Play: Zuckerberg vs. Global Tech Justice

Tech Policy Press

Tom Devon, Jonathan Corpus Ong

2025-01-09

Jonathan Corpus Ong discusses the global implications of Meta’s recent policy change regarding fact checking and other accountability measures. “Meta co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that the company plans to dismantle key aspects of its trust and safety systems under the guise of ‘protecting free expression’ is no championing of free speech — it’s a power play, a bold tech bro flex signaling a new alliance between Silicon Valley and Washington against global tech regulation and tech justice activism,” Ong says.

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Philippine Elections 2022

Contemporary Southeast Asia

Jonathan Corpus Ong

2022-12-14

Social media was central to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s electoral success, but not in the sense that his campaign had somehow unlocked their hidden features for technological brainwashing. Unfortunately, some pundits looking for quick rationalizations for his landslide victory in the May 2022 polls repeated much of the same explanatory devices from 2016.

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The World Should Be Worried About a Dictator’s Son's Apparent Win in the Philippines

TIME Magazine

Jonathan Corpus Ong

2022-05-22

After a maddening campaign season, which saw a polarized electorate disagree on everything from the methodology of opinion polls to the moral significance of showing up for public debates, voters in the Philippines have elected a new set of leaders.

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