Kesa White is a Program Research Associate at the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab (PERIL) located at American University. In addition to her role at PERIL, she is a fellow at the Accelerationism Research Consortium (ARC) and the Extremism and Gaming Research Network. Ms. White received her B.A. degree in International Studies with a concentration in Foreign Policy and National Security and M.S. degree in Terrorism and Homeland Security from American University. Kesa’s research primarily focuses on violent far-right extremism, hate, and content moderation. In her spare time, Ms. White enjoys spending time with her dog Fendi, traveling, and riding her Peloton.
Twitter: @whitekesa
Assembly Fellowship Project:
Hate speech and extremist language online are often shrouded in ever-shifting context and double meaning that are nearly impossible for moderators to effectively track. Relying on Kesa White’s expertise as a researcher of online extremism and a database of masked terms that she constructed, D3COD3 is a browser extension that identifies this intentionally coded language, giving both content moderators and general users insight into the potential threats they present.
