I'M AN ACADEMIC
I am a digital sociologist with over four years of experience as a post-doctoral researcher the University Complutense of Madrid (Faculty of Computer Science). I hold a joint PhD degree in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research at the University of Milan and the University of Turin(NASP). I also worked as a Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam from 2021 to 2023.
Currently, I work as a Senior Researcher at AI Forensics.
My passion lies at the intersection of emerging technologies and media studies. I am an expert in platform governance and technological-mediated social discrimination, with particular attention to online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. I have conducted extensive research on sociotechnical imaginaries, digital rights, and data justice, particularly in relation to social media, encrypted technologies, and pornographic platforms.
At the end of 2018, I became the promoter of the Italian campaign #intimitàviolata, which succeeded in approving a law reform, i.e. art.612-ter in the law 'Codice Rosso' of 17/07/19, that now criminalizes in Italy the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.
I have collaborated with several governmental institutions and NGOs as an external expert for research and advocacy development, such as: the European Commission, European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the Council of Europe, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Spain's Instituto de las Mujeres, Save The Children, Amnesty International, among others.
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I'M AN ACADEMIC
I am a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Digital Sociology at the University Complutense of Madrid (P2P Models) and Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (New Media & Digital Culture). I hold a PhD degree in Digital Sociology at the University of Milan (NASP).
My areas of expertise are digital platforms affordances, socio-technical imaginaries, gender and data justice.
At the end of 2018, I became the promoter of the Italian campaign #intimitàviolata, which succeeded in approving a law reform, i.e. art.612-ter in the law 'Codice Rosso' of 17/07/19, that now criminalizes in Italy the non-consensual sharing of intimate images (i.e. revenge porn).
My political engagement goes together with the research on harassment and inequalities in the digital space. I published a book with Lucia Bainotti in which we analyse the problem of cyberviolence against women and girls in male-populated digital environments, such as Telegram groups and channels.
I also work as a teenager educator to teach positive and inclusive information regarding 'sexuality+' and the digital society, together with my association Virgin & Martyr.
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RESEARCH
EVENTS & COLLABORATIONS
RESEARCH
My work focuses on the intersection between technical and social aspects of technology, especially in the context of algorithmic imaginaries and the reproduction of discriminations through the use of digital tools. Particularly, I am an expert in understanding and researching digital intimacies, online misogyny and platform-mediated process of gender construction.
During my PhD, I conducted qualitative research on the social applications of blockchain to understand how blockchain developers and experts conceive of sociality, social relations and social change. I investigated the political imaginaries that underlie the development of decentralized technologies, to understand how they contribute to the construction and reproduction of neoliberal discourses around blockchain implementations. In parallel, I started researching online and technology-facilitated gender-based violence and how the use of digital platforms intertwines with pre-existing forms of social discrimination. In 2020, together with Lucia Bainotti, I published a digital ethnography in which we studied the role of Telegram in the amplification and automation of digital sexual violence and argued that platforms may reinforce gender performativity. The research was presented to several governments and institutions, such as Italy, Spain, France, the UK, the United States, Mexico, Ecuador, and the EU.
More recently, I have begun researching the systemic risks associated with adult content platforms, particularly in the context of the enforcement of the Digital Services Act in the European Union. My work explores how regulatory frameworks address issues such as content moderation, platform governance, algorithmic transparency, and the protection of digital rights, with a focus on mitigating harm while safeguarding freedom of expression, privacy and sex positivity.
My work focuses on the intersection between technical and social aspects of technology, especially in the context of algorithmic imaginaries and the reproduction of discriminations through the use of digital tools.
During my PhD, I conducted qualitative research on the social applications of blockchain to understand how blockchain developers and experts conceive of sociality, social relations and social change. I investigated the political imaginaries that underlie the development of decentralized technologies, in order to understand how they contribute to the construction and reproduction of neoliberal discourses around the blockchains implementations.
In parallel, I started researching gender-based online violence and how the use of digital platforms intertwines with pre-existing forms of social discrimination. In 2020, together with Lucia Bainotti, I published a digital ethnography in which we studied the role of Telegram in the amplification and automation of digital sexual violence and argued that platforms may reinforce gender performativity.
In addition, together with the collective Tracking Exposed, we investigated the role of Pornhub's algorithms in the promotion of heteronormative imaginaries and the reproduction of gender stereotypes through the socio-technical architecture of the platform.
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION
AREA OF SPECIALIZATION
Online gender-based violence, online sexualities, blockchain, data justice, digital rights, algorithmic culture, digital activism, digital methods
Online gender-based violence, blockchain, data justice, digital rights, algorithmic culture, crypto-culture, digital methods
ACADEMIC CURRICULUM VITAE
EVENTS & COLLABORATIONS
ACADEMIC CURRICULUM VITAE
CURRENT POSITION
Senior Researcher at AI Forensics
FORMER
🇪🇸 Post-doctoral researcher at University Complutense of Madrid (Faculty of Computer Science) | Juan de la Cierva Grant
Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (New Media and Digital Cultures) | 2020-2022
Post-doctoral researcher at University Complutense of Madrid (Faculty of Computer Science) | 2020-2022 | P2P MODELS
DEGREES
CURRENT POSITION
Post-doctoral researcher at University Complutense of Madrid (Faculty of Computer Science) | P2P MODELS
FORMER
Lecturer at the University of Amsterdam (New Media and Digital Cultures) | 2020-2022
DEGREES
PhD | Sociology and Methodology of Social Research | University of Milan | 2017-2021
Master Degree | Comunicación Social | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | 2014 - 2016
Bachelor Degree | Scienze Politiche, Relazioni Internazionali e Diritti Umani | Università di Padova | 2010 - 2013
PhD | Sociology and Methodology of Social Research | University of Milan | 2017-2021 Master Degree | Comunicación Social | Universidad Complutense de Madrid | 2014 - 2016
Bachelor Degree | Scienze Politiche, Relazioni Internazionali e Diritti Umani | Università di Padova | 2010 - 2013
PhD VISITING UNIVERSITIES
PhD VISITING UNIVERSITIES
Universidad de Zaragoza | Zaragoza | Sociology | 2020
TalTech | Tallinn University of Technology | Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance | 2019
King’s College | London | Digital Humanities | 2018
Universidad de Zaragoza | Zaragoza | Sociology | 2020 TalTech | Tallinn University of Technology | Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance | 2019
King’s College | London | Digital Humanities | 2018
SUMMER SCHOOLS
SUMMER SCHOOLS
University of Amsterdam | Digital Methods | Trolls, bots and dictators - On the current state of social media research | 2019
University of Amsterdam | Digital Methods | Retraining the machine: Addressing algorithmic bias | 2018
Harvard University | Sociological and Political Research, offered by CIS, at RCC Harvard University | 2017
Université Paris-Est Créteil | International Media, Political Action and Communication Technologies | (2016)
RESEARCH PROJECTS COLLABORATIONS
GRACE, Guidance for Regulation of Adult Content and Enforcement. Joint Tender– “EC-CNECT/2024/MVP/0020’’
P2P Models, ERC-Starting Grant, Universidad Complutense de Madrid | 2020-2023 | LINK
Center for Advanced Internet Studies (CAIS) | Working group: "Towards a European Policy against Online Image-Based Sexual Abuse" | PI: Silvia Semenzin | 2024 | LINK
DIMMONS, Open University of Catalonia | 2023 | LINK
DIVISAR UCM (Violencia sexual digital entre jóvenes universitarios) | LINK
ALGOCOUNT (University of Milan) | 2023 | LINK
Tracking Exposed https://tracking.exposed/ | 2022
Dark Telegram, University of Amsterdam | 2020 | LINK
DATACTIVE, ERC Starting Grant, University of Amsterdam | 2018 | LINK
University of Amsterdam | Digital Methods | Trolls, bots and dictators - On the current state of social media research | 2019
University of Amsterdam | Digital Methods | Retraining the machine: Addressing algorithmic bias | 2018
Harvard University | Sociological and Political Research, offered by CIS, at RCC Harvard University | 2017
Université Paris-Est Créteil | International Media, Political Action and Communication Technologies | (2016)
RESEARCH PROJECTS COLLABORATIONS
Tracking Exposed https://tracking.exposed/
Deplatforming project, University of Amsterdam | 2020 | LINK to Richard Rogers' article
DATACTIVE, University of Amsterdam | 2018 | LINK to blogpost
PARTICIPATION IN CONFERENCES
EVENTS & COLLABORATIONS
SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES
PAST SELECTED CONFERENCES
🇫🇷 AI Action Summit (French Government) | Paris, 2025
🇺🇸 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services | Prevention and solutions to image-based sexual abuse | Washington, 2024
🇪🇺 European Center for Algorithmic Transparency (EU Commission) - The Prevalence of Online Gender-Based Violence and How to Combat It | Brussels, 2024
University of Amsterdam | Global Digital Intimacies | Amsterdam, 2024 University of Deusto | I International Congress "Women, technology & power" | Panel Chair | San Sebastián, 2024 Universidad Complutense de Madrid |I Jornadas sobre Violencia Sexual Digital | Invited talk | Madrid, 2024
European Commission + White House| EU-US Government TTC Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence Data Workshop |Invited talk| Leuven, 2024 Universitat Obierta de Catalunya | VIII Congreso Economia Feminista | Barcelona, 2023
Università Milano-Bicocca | 11th European Feminism Research Conference | Panel Chair | Milan, 2022
Restorative Justice for All International Institute | RJ4ALL International Annual conference | London, 2022 Global Forum on Democratizing Work | Governing the algorithms | 2021
TOKEN Policy Observatory | Future scenarios for blockchain technology | P2P Models | 2021
Il Mulino + Scuola Democratica Conference | Reinventing Education | 2021
Tech for Society | Rights to the Blockchain Cities | Values in the blockchain city | 2021 Goldsmiths University | Figurations Conference | Persons In/Out of Data | London, 2019
University of Milan| COMPOL Conference| Political Communication in the digital media ecosystem | Secretary | Milan, 2019
University of Bremen | Data Power | Global In/securities | Bremen, 2019
Università degli Studi di Urbino | AOIR Symposia | Below the Radar | Urbino, 2019
Università Federico II | Digital Hackathon | Napoli, 2019
Università degli Studi di Milano | Centro Genders | La violenza di genere dentro e fuori i luoghi di lavoro | Keynote | Milan, 2019
Università Federico II | Post start-up cultures | Napoli, 2018
University of Leicester | New Directions in Media and Sociology Research Conference | Leicester, 2018
University of Cardiff | Data justice conference | Cardiff, 2018
University of Milan | Centro Genders | “La rete che umilia” | Main organizer | Milan, 2018
University of Gijón | FES: XII Congreso Espanol de Sociologia | Gijón, 2016
UNED Madrid | III Jornadas de Ciberpolitica | Madrid 2016
ACADEMIC SEMINARS
Università di Palermo |Palermo | Generi, Sessualità e Regolazione Sociale | Invited by Cirus Rinaldi | 2021
Università degli Studi di Padova | Padova | Digital Culture & Society | Invited by Cosimo Marco Scarcelli | 2021
Università di Roma Tre | Roma | Master Studi e Politiche di Genere | Invited by Francesca Lopez | 2021
Università degli Studi di Milano | Milano | Book presentation "Donne Tutte Puttane" | Invited by Cinzia Meraviglia | 2021
Università degli Studi di Pavia | Pavia | Methodology of social research on Telegram | Invited by Alessandro Caliandro | 2020/21
Università Federico II | Napoli | Methodology of social research on Telegram | Invited by Cristiano Felaco | 2021
Univerdad de Zaragoza | Zaragoza | Porno vengativo: violencia, sexualidad y tecnología | Invited by Santiago Boira | 2019
Università Federico II | Napoli | Revenge porn: violenza, sessualità e tecnologia | Invited by Adam Arvidsson | 2019
Università degli Studi di Milano | Milano | Revenge porn: violenza, sessualità e tecnologia | Invited by Annalisa Murgia | 2019
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore | Milano | Does privacy still exist? | Invited by Ivana Pais | 2019
PARTICIPATION IN CONFERENCES
Global Forum on Democratizing Work | Governing the algorithms | 2021
TOKEN Policy Observatory | Future scenarios for blockchain technology | P2P Models | 2021
Scuola Democratica Conference | Reiventing Education | Virgin & Martyr | 2021
Tech for Society | Rights to the Blockchain Cities | Values in the blockchain city | 2021 Goldsmiths University | Figurations Conference | Persons In/Out of Data | 2019
University of Milan| COMPOL Conference| Political Communication in the digital media ecosystem | Secretary | 2019
University of Bremen | Data Power | Global In/securities | 2019
Università degli Studi di Urbino | AOIR Symposia | Below the Radar | 2019
Università Federico II | Digital Hackathon | 2019
Università Federico II | Post start-up cultures | 2018
University of Leicester | New Directions in Media and Sociology Research Conference | 2018
University of Cardiff | Data justice conference | 2018
University of Milan | Centro Genders | “La rete che umilia” | Main organizer | 2018
University of Gijón | FES: XII Congreso Espanol de Sociologia | 2016