Melissa Ryan

“I mean that’s the ultimate dream right? Like, I think if you think back to 2011-2012 when you saw these uprisings around the world that were live streamed you saw Occupy protests and it was: “Oh, the Internet is great!…it’s gonna democratize communication” and I think to a certain extent it has and certainly voices have emerged that wouldn’t have otherwise. We are also seeing you know the ill-affect of that. Ya know, and that Holocaust deniers have a voice and conspiracy theorists have a voice and white nationalists have a voice, so finding the right balance of that I think is going to be the battle of a generation”

Melissa Ryan helps people, policymakers, and institutions combat online toxicity and extremism. (AKA trolls, the so-called alt-right, disinformation, and fake news.)

She write Ctrl Alt-Right Delete, a weekly newsletter, that reaches more than 16,000 readers. She’s also written commentary for outlets like Buzzfeed News, Refinery29, and NowThis.

Previously, she was a digital strategist for Democratic campaigns and progressive causes. She worked with influencers and online communities to raise money, mobilize activists, drive online conversations and shape media narratives. Her familiarity with this space gives her a unique insight into how trolls and extremists organize.