The Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)

The Center for Education and Research in
Information Assurance and Security (CERIAS)
Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security

Jingjie Li - University of Edinburgh

Students: Spring 2026, unless noted otherwise, sessions will be virtual on Zoom.
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Wednesday, Sep 23, 2026 04:30pm - 05:30pm ET

Advancing Online Safety Governance for Digital Platforms and Communities

Sep 23, 2026

Abstract

Internet users increasingly interact through emerging digital platforms and communities, which create complex online safety, security and privacy challenges that aredifficult to navigate. This talk will present insights from our research to understand the rising online safety landscape and improve online safety governance. I will first present our work characterizing online community responses to globalized scam-driven human trafficking, which received a Best Paper Award at ACM CHI 2026. Scam-driven cross-border human trafficking has become a long-standing societal crisis in Asia. Through our analysis of community responses on RedNote, a major Chinese social media platform, we identify several key challenges, including cultural values that can both enable trafficking and hinder survivors' recovery. Although online communities develop and share protective strategies, these efforts are complicated by uncertainty about the reliability of available support and difficulties in cross-border coordination. I will discuss the implications of these findings for prevention, platform governance, and international cooperation against scam-driven trafficking. Building on this work, I will then highlight opportunities for more proactive approaches to governing digital platforms and online communities, drawing on insights from our parallel research efforts. Finally, I will reflect on methodological lessons from our research and motivate discussion about future opportunities for studying and improving online safety, security and privacy in emerging digital environments.

About the Speaker

Jingjie Li
Jingjie Li is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh. His work spans privacy, security, and online safety,with the goal of seamlessly integrating these principles into emerging human-centered technologies such as smart homes, augmented and virtual reality, and AI-enabled systems. He published impactful work at premier conferences in security and privacy (IEEE S&P, USENIX Security, and ACM CCS), human-computer interaction (ACM CHI and ACM CSCW), and computer systems (IEEE/ACM ISCA, IEEE TMC and IEEE TVLSI). His interdisciplinary work received multiple best paper awards and has informed industry development and policymaking with key stakeholders across countries. Before joining the University of Edinburgh, Jingjie obtained a Ph.D. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2023. For more information, please visit his homepage: www.jingjieli.me 


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