Dr. Emma L Briant is a British political communication scholar and a leading expert on propaganda and information warfare in an age of surveillance. At Monash University she is Associate Professor of News and Political Communication and teaches in the School of Media, Film and Journalism. She is an Executive Committee Member of Monash Global Peace and Security Centre. Dr. Briant is an honorary Associate in the Center for Financial Reporting and Accountability at University of Cambridge, Judge Business School, and Fellow at Bard College, Human Rights Project. She gained her PhD from University of Glasgow in 2011 and her past faculty positions include Lecturer in Journalism Studies at University of Sheffield (2013-17) and Senior Lecturer in Journalism at University of Essex (2017-19). She has also held prestigious visiting positions at Bard College and George Washington University and has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University, American University, NYU and Georgetown University. She contributes expertise on the advisory boards of Index on Censorship and Clean up the Internet (UK).

Dr. Briant is a leading expert on propaganda and information warfare in an age of mass-surveillance, and in particular their human rights and security implications. A key research focus is on the actors and infrastructure behind influence operations, including motives, strategies and organization. She analyzed the coordination and digital adaptation of defense propaganda for her PhD and book Propaganda and Counter-Terrorism: Strategies for Global Change (Manchester University Press, 2015). Dr. Briant’s testimony, drawing on that work and examining 'disinformation for hire', was central in exposing the Cambridge Analytica scandal and continues to inform international inquiries and policymaking including the US Congress, UK Parliament, Canadian Parliament and European Parliament. She has advised politicians, NGO’s and Big Tech companies on threats posed by the opaque digital influence industry, disinformation and contemporary influence operations. 

Dr Briant’s first book was Bad News for Refugees, (Pluto Press, 2013, co-authored with Greg Philo and Pauline Donald); it examined UK political and media discourse on migration prior to ‘Brexit’. Dr. Briant is now finalizing her co-edited third, the Routledge Handbook on the Influence Industry with Vian Bakir, Bangor University (expected 2024), and her fourth, Propaganda Machine. Dr. Briant regularly contributes journalism and op-eds to major journalism outlets (these have included Wired, OCCRP, Index on Censorship, and The Guardian). She has served as advisor and researcher for several documentary films including, ‘People You May Know’ a documentary on Amazon Prime and previously, as Senior Researcher for Oscar-shortlisted Netflix film ‘The Great Hack’. Her research funders have included the UK's Economics and Social Research Council and the Open Society Foundation.  

Military information operations and psychological operations in conflicts and international security

Contemporary propaganda techniques and emerging technologies

Theories, ethics and governance of propaganda 

Propaganda and election integrity

Surveillance, AI, and data ethics

Surveillance capitalism, private intelligence and 'disinformation' as an industry

Propaganda in democracies and authoritarian states

Hacking, leaking and whistleblowing

Censorship, media freedom and human rights

Media, refugees and migration

Transparency and national security in democracies

Conspiracy theories and propaganda

Unit Coordinator: ATS 2784 News and Power

Tutoring/Workshops: ATS1089 - Fundamentals of Journalism

Coming in 2025: Propaganda: Dark Arts in a Digital Age