Twitter partners with NCPACS to harness positive power of its platform

The initiative will be led by Emeritus Professor Kevin Clements and Sanjana Hattotuwa, lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the NCPACS who has extensive experience living in and responding to violent conflict.

Twitter announced today that it has joined forces with the University of Otago's National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, New Zealand's first Centre (NCPACS) to combine global interdisciplinary expertise on the issues of development, peace-building, and conflict transformation, to study the ways online conversations can be used to promote tolerance and inclusion instead of division and exclusion.

The initiative will be led by Emeritus Professor Kevin Clements and Sanjana Hattotuwa, lead researcher and Ph.D. candidate at the NCPACS who has extensive experience living in and responding to violent conflict.

According to Twitter, the initial prompt for this joint research project came from the 15 March 2019 Christchurch massacre. By using data generated from tens of thousands of public Tweets anchored to the violence, Mr. Hattotuwa discovered a local and global outpouring of support for victims, solidarity with the citizens of New Zealand, the affirmation of democratic ideals, pushback against terrorism, and unequivocal condemnation of the perpetrator.

"We are optimistic the research will not only demonstrate key dynamics of different communication patterns prior to the Christchurch massacre, but will also enable us to better understand ways in which differences get turned into polarised, and ultimately, toxic divisions. This will be helpful for all those involved in the Christchurch Call, as well as other forums studying these topics," Twitter Australia and New Zealand head of public policy, Kara Hinesley said in a blog post.

Apart from demonstrating the key dynamics of different communication patterns prior to the Christchurch terror attacks, Twitter says the research will also help understand ways in which differences get turned into polarised, and ultimately, toxic divisions.

We believe in the power of the public conversation to heal wounds and to build enduring, peaceful communities. Our goal is to harness the unique power of our service by providing data that empowers research, and hopefully gain a better understanding of the risks and the opportunities available through fostering an open, public conversation.

Twitter