Susan Benesch founded and directs the Dangerous Speech Project, an independent research team for studying content that can inspire violence - and finding the best ways to prevent that without infringing on freedom of expression.
To that end, she conducts research on methods to diminish harmful speech online, or the harm itself. The DSP is a project of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate. Susan also works and publishes on other topics related to online behavior and how it might improve, such as friction in design. She is a fellow of Salzburg Global, where she works on polarization and political violence, and of the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. She also serves tech companies as an external source of ideas and critique, and speaks and publishes on governance of online content, hate speech, and disinformation. Trained as a human rights lawyer at Yale and Georgetown Universities, Susan is also an adjunct professor at American University.
