UMass Amherst GloTech Lab Launches Asian American Digital Politics Monitor

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The Global Technology for Social Justice Lab (GloTech) at UMass Amherst has launched the Asian American Digital Politics (AADP) Monitor, a blog series that presents collaborative research by GloTech faculty and graduate students on understanding the political beliefs and digital practices of diverse Asian American communities.

“It’s important that we identify and address information voids of Asian American communities,” says Jonathan Corpus Ong, GloTech director and professor of global digital media in the Department of Communication. “These communities are still underserved by public officials, mainstream news and even academic experts, whose responses to anti-Asian violence have been unsatisfying. Our AADP Monitor spotlights political controversies and wedge issues important to Asian Americans but underreported in mainstream outlets.”

As a political bloc, Asian Americans – numbering around 15 million eligible voters – are poised to play pivotal roles in the upcoming election. As greater national attention is placed on this demographic, the AADP Monitor aims to focus on the concerns and issues the Asian American electorate faces. 

The blog series discusses common disinformation narratives prevalent within Asian American communities. Leveraging the team’s partnerships with community media organizations and ethnographic immersion in niche online groups, the researchers recount the internal conflicts and diverse political identifications of Asian Americans.

For example, Dispatch 1 discusses the different ways that Asian American female politicians have used social media in their campaigns. The post focuses on the creative TikTok videos of Averie Bishop, a Filipina American running for Congress in Texas. Another dispatch explores the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel, illustrating the different political expressions of Asian American activists and politicians.

As GloTech fellow and doctoral student Yelim Lee writes, “Unlike popular belief, Asian Americans are invested in more than just academics and the ongoing conversation surrounding affirmative action; by taking a visible and vocal stance, many in the Asian American community are rejecting stereotypes that have long been used to marginalize and ‘other’ them.”

The AADP Monitor is led by Ong, Lee, Wayne Weiai Xu, associate professor of communication, and Jane Pyo, postdoctoral researcher of race and digital politics.

Those interested in learning more about the monitor can sign up for GloTech’s newsletter and follow the lab on Instagram.