This talk is held in conjunction with the workshop on Digital Religion: Social, Political, and Legal Futures, jointly organized by the Centre for Asian Legal Studies, and the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.
CHAIRPERSON
Assoc Prof Daniel P.S. Goh, NUS College, National University of Singapore
ABSTRACT
This presentation will explore internet memes and memetic culture as a site of production and spread of religious bias and disinformation. Some of the most popular internet memes focused on religion often use meme characters, taken from digital media culture, and image templates that implicitly rely on historical stereotypes or explicit popular misrepresentations about core religious beliefs and practices. Also because memes use distinct forms of humor to communicate, such techniques may obscure to a broad general audience the stereotypes about religion memes spread and promote. By looking at examples of popular meme characters used to discuss Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism this talk illustrates how viral memes can be intentionally and unintentionally used to spread hate and religious misinformation.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Heidi A. Campbell is Professor of Communication, Affiliate Faculty in Religious Studies, and Presidential Impact Fellow at Texas A&M University. She is also the director of the Network for New Media, Religion and Digital Culture Studies, and a founder of Digital Religion studies. Her award-winning research focuses on the intersection of technology, religion and digital culture, with emphasis on Jewish, Muslim and Christian media negotiations. She is the author of over 100 articles and 13 books including When Religion Meets New Media (2010), Digital Religion (2013, 2nd edition 2021) and Digital Creatives and the Rethinking Religious Authority (2021). She has also been widely quoted in international news outlets such as ABC Radio-Australia, USA Today, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and on the BBC.
