DEVIANCE 2025:
Deviant Dynamics in Digital Spaces

Co-located with the 17th International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining

ASONAM 2025 in Calgary, Canada

Description

In today’s hyper-connected world, digital spaces have become breeding grounds for increasingly sophisticated forms of deviant behavior that challenge social cohesion and democratic discourse. As artificial intelligence and emerging technologies reshape online interactions, malicious actors continue to evolve their strategies for manipulation and disruption across social networks, social media platforms, messaging apps, and decentralized networks. From coordinated disinformation campaigns to algorithmic manipulation, cyber harassment, and extremist recruitment, these threats demand innovative approaches for detection and mitigation.

The Deviant Dynamics in Digital Spaces 2025 workshop brings together researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to explore the latest developments in understanding and countering harmful online behaviors. Our focus areas include emerging patterns of digital deviance, novel detection methodologies, cross-platform coordination analysis, and the intersection of AI with online manipulation.

We welcome submissions addressing topics including, but not limited to:

  • Misinformation detection and analysis
  • Misinformation dissemination tactics (misdirection, hashtag-latching, smoke screening)
  • Multiple platform orchestration and cross-platform dissemination strategies
  • Algorithmic manipulation and recommendation system exploitation
  • Deviant behaviors on social media platforms including cyberbullying and organized hacking
  • Spamming and spear phishing through social media channels
  • Coordination strategies and detection methods
  • Analysis of various mob behaviors (cyber flash mobs, smart mobs, deviant cyber flash mobs, automated deviant mobs)
  • Adversarial Collective Action and Computational Modelling of Social Movement
  • Machine-driven communications (bots, botnets, social bots)
  • Troll detection and analysis of trolling strategies
  • Hate speech and disruptive content analysis
  • Narrative analysis during misinformation campaigns
  • Stance detection and intent classification
  • Cognitive threats and manipulation
  • AI-enabled threats and countermeasures
  • Policy implications and governance frameworks
  • Privacy & Security Aspects from Deviance Behavior in Social Media Platforms

This workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration between computer scientists, social scientists, policy researchers, and platform trust & safety teams. Through sharing cutting-edge research and best practices, we seek to develop more effective approaches for protecting digital spaces while preserving open discourse and innovation.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: April 18, 2025, 11:59 PM AoE

Acceptance Notification: June 1, 2025, 11:59 PM AoE

Camera-ready Deadline: July 28, 2025, 11:59 PM

Submission Guidelines We welcome all submissions reporting original and unpublished research written in English and about the topics mentioned on the Description section. Three categories of submissions will be accepted: Full papers up to 8 pages, Short papers up to 4 pages, and Demo papers up to 4 pages, all in Springer-Verlag LNCS/LNAI guidelines (Format link).

Papers should be submitted online using the Easychair (link).

All papers accepted for the workshop will be included in the Conference Proceedings for ASONAM 2025 published by Springer.

Paper submission implies one of the authors will and must register and attend the workshop to present the paper.

Program Committee: To Be Decided

Keynote Speaker: To Be Decided

Length of the workshop Full-Day

Organizers

Chair: Dr. Nitin Agarwal (nxagarwal@ualr.edu),
Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy Chair & Donaghey Distinguished Professor,
Director, COSMOS Research Center
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Faculty Fellow, University of California, Berkeley

Co-Chair: Sayantan Bhattacharya (sbhatachary@ualr.edu),
Research Assistant – COSMOS Research Center,
PhD Candidate at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Sponsorships

This workshop is sponsored by the United States Army Research Office.