Diyi Liu

profile_pic.png

1 St Giles

Oxford, United Kingdom

O1 3JS

I am a PhD candidate in Information, Communication, and the Social Sciences at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford since October 2021. In May 2025, I started as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen.

My doctoral research examines algorithmic content moderation and the legitimacy of platformized governance over online speech in South and Southeast Asian contexts. It seeks to understand how on-the-ground user insights might inform policymaking around digital platforms and borderline content moderation. During my postdoc, I will be working on the Power over Platforms project where we look into the non-traditional actors influencing the decision-making of consumer-facing content platforms.

My latest work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Policy & Internet, New Media & Society, Journal of Medical Internet Research, and media outlets such as The Diplomat. Previously, I interned with UNESCO’s Communication and Information Unit, substantially contributing to pilot research applying the Internet Universality Indicators framework in Thailand, and has recently been communicating around current initiatives regarding the Guidelines for the Governance of Digital Platforms. Starting from 2024 I have also been engaged with Meta’s Actor and Behavior Policy Expert Circle. Currently a DPhil candidate at the OII, I am also a visiting researcher at the Department of Communications and New Media at the National University of Singapore (Fall 2023), an Open Research Fellow at the Weizenbaum Institute in Germany (Spring 2024), and a research fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Indonesia (Fall 2024). I earned my BA and MA in International Journalism and Communication in China prior to commencing my DPhil, which is generously funded by the Clarendon Scholarship.

news

May 01, 2025 I started as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Communication, University of Copenhagen in May 2025.
Dec 26, 2024 Awarded a Tech Policy Fellowship by the Tech Global Institute starting from January 2025!

selected publications

  1. SMS
    The Balancing Acts: Communicating Legitimacy in Global Speech Governance
    Diyi Liu
    Social Media + Society, 2025
  2. JMIR
    Online Health Information Seeking, eHealth Literacy, and Health Behaviors Among Chinese Internet Users: Cross-Sectional Survey Study
    Diyi Liu, Shuhang Yang, Calvin Yixiang Cheng, and 2 more authors
    Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2024
  3. P&I
    Borderline content and platformised speech governance: Mapping TikTok’s moderation controversies in South and Southeast Asia
    Diyi Liu
    Policy & Internet, 2024