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In this month’s research spotlight, we highlight recent research from COSMOS that focuses on information campaigns and socio-political protests. These studies were published and presented recently at the 2025 Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2025), which took place from January 7 to 10, 2025, in  Hilton Waikoloa Village, Big Island, Hawaii. Specifically, the studies we spotlight here are titled,

  • “Analyzing TikTok’s Role in Mobilizing Dynamics for Information Campaigns during Taiwan’s 2024 Elections,” and
  • “The Amplifiers of Dissent: Examining Influence of Key Users and Content Modality on Collective Actions.”

“Analyzing TikTok’s Role in Mobilizing Dynamics for Information Campaigns during Taiwan’s 2024 Elections” discovered how disinformation and anti-disinformation campaigns played out on TikTok during Taiwan’s 2024 presidential election. The study examined TikTok videos, their comments, and network relationships between commenters. Key findings showed that while disinformation campaigns relied on rapid, high-volume content bursts, anti-disinformation efforts succeeded through sustained, credible engagement that built trust over time. The anti-disinformation campaign generated significantly higher user engagement and maintained stronger network cohesion. The research suggested that successful online mobilization depends more on audience engagement during the amplification stage than on initial rapid content deployment.

“The Amplifiers of Dissent: Examining Influence of Key Users and Content Modality on Collective Actions,” examined the role of key social media users and content types (text and images) during the 2022 Brazilian anti-government protests on Instagram. The researchers analyzed how different types of influential users—identified through network centrality, engagement levels, and posting frequency—shaped emotional responses and mobilized protesters. Further, the study analyzed the role of influential users in collective identity formation in terms of evoking mobilization through different content modalities. The findings showed that text and images contribute differently to collective identity formation and mobilization. 


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