The Digital Technology for Democracy Lab is a collaboration across the University of Virginia that explores how rapidly evolving digital technologies can challenge, but might also fortify, democratic institutions and practices.
Pioneering transdisciplinary research to explore democracy in the digital age
Our Focus
Upcoming Events
Gender & Tech: Dis/Misinformation & Political Extremism
Tuesday, January 27, 2026 • 11:00 AM – 12:15 PM EST
Online
Digital Democracy from Below
Friday, February 20, 2026 • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM EST
Bond House (600 Brandon Avenue) and Online
Research & Programming
Data in the Dark
Automation’s Ecologies
Visual Misinformation
AI & the Environment
Student Technology Council
Technology & Disinformation
Social Contagions
Gender & Tech
Co-Opting AI
Urban Digital Twins
Technology & Democracy Exchange
Data Center Policies
Descendant-Led Digital Humanities Lab & Network
Cryptocurrency & Democracy
Trending
DTD Lab Welcomes New Postdocs & Faculty
Meet the Lab
Reimagining AI for Environmental Justice & Creativity Collection of Essays
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Insights from the Visual Generative AI Propaganda Convening
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Video Library
In the News
Digital construction comes to the Pacific Northwest: Timber and the landscapes of automation
Megan Wiessner, DTD Lab postdoctoral research fellow, has contributed an article to an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) special issue, "Automation by Design: Politics, Culture and Landscape in an Age of Machines That Learn".
AI Is Transforming Climate Science. Who Gets to Build It Matters, Says UVA Study
A UVA research team, including Mona Sloane, DTD Lab faculty co-lead, published a paper encouraging scientists, policymakers, and communities to rethink how AI processes for climate research are designed, governed, and shared.
How emotions spread online following celebrity suicide news
Analyses of resharing behavior reveal distinct temporal patterns in the online propagation of different emotions following tragedies in a new publication co-authored by DTD Lab postdoctoral research fellow, Ehsan Nouri.
Join our vibrant lab and help us explore the intersection of digital technology and democracy.
Current Opportunities