We are seeking contributions for a special issue of JDSR (Journal of Digital Social Research, jdsr.io) on the topic of digital darkside.
Timeline
- September 1, 2026: Full manuscript submission deadline.
- September 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027: Review process (1–2 rounds).
- January 2027: Decision on manuscripts.
Topic and scope
As technological infrastructures increasingly mediate everyday life, they also transform how harm is enacted, policed, narrated, and resisted. From online vigilantism to platform-driven surveillance, from algorithmic governance to digitally enabled abuse, the digital, more than a mere backdrop to crime, is deeply entangled in its formation and interpretation.
Contributions to this special issue of JDSR may include original research articles, theoretical and methodological developments, applied research, and position papers. The topic of digital darkside includes (but is not restricted to) the social causes, manifestations, and entanglements between digitalization (e.g., social media, the world wide web, AI-powered processing, platformization) and “darksides”, and related phenomena (e.g., harm, crime, extremism, radicalization, terrorism, abuse, surveillance, military and war, law enforcement, counterterrorism, anti-extremism movements).
Examples of potential contributions include but are not limited to questions and topics such as:
- Critical engagements with how power, violence, and justice take form in online spaces.
- How digital technologies blur boundaries between policing and surveillance.
- How platform architectures influence both criminal activity and its prevention.
- How digital environments reshape who is visible, who is vulnerable, and who is believed.
- Studies of ethical, social, legal, economic, cultural, and political activities surrounding the Darkweb and platforms supporting illegal activities.
- Digital methods facilitating denigration.
- The development or application of new research methods for enabling the study of digital darksides.
- The application and demonstration of practical methods for supporting stakeholders involved in digital darksides (e.g., profiling tools for risk analysis) and studies of whether and how these stakeholders adopt these methods.
- The influence of digitalization surrounding the production and diffusion of “darkside” narratives (e.g., true crime or police work on social media).
- The digitalization of disinformation.
This special issue encourages contributions from multiple disciplines. Purely technical papers are not accepted. For example, a contribution showing a method for generating credible disinformation is not relevant, whereas a contribution documenting how a given tool is used for creating disinformation is relevant.
What and how to submit
We invite researchers to submit an English-language paper to the JDSR submission system at jdsr.io. In the submission system, please indicate (by choosing the Section "Special issue: Digital Darkside") that your submission is for this issue.
Questions and contacts
Special issue guest editors
- Bethan Jones, School of Journalism, Media and Culture, Cardiff University (jonesbv5@cardiff.ac.uk)
- Leif Sundberg, Department of Informatics, Umeå University | Forum for Digitalization, Mid Sweden University (leif.sundberg@umu.se)
- Loïs Vanhée, Department of Computing Science, Umeå University (lois.vanhee@umu.se)
- Jens Alvén Sjöberg, School of Education and Communication, Jönköping University (jens.sjoberg@ju.se)
JDSR special issue editor
- Mattias Derlén, DIGSUM, Umeå University (mattias.derlen@umu.se)
JDSR editor-in-chief
- Simon Lindgren, DIGSUM, Umeå University (simon.lindgren@umu.se)