🇨🇦 PhD candidate @McGillPoliSci researching gender, tech, & extremism. @SSHRC_CRSH PhD Scholar. @MediaEcosystem. Formerly @KingsCollegeLon
Montreal, Quebec
Joined January 2012
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Happy to have my paper, "Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence, Hate Speech, and Terrorism: A Risk Assessment on the Rise of the Incel Rebellion in Canada", published with @VAWJournal.
Read it here: doi.org/10.1177/107780122211…
#politicalscience #cdnpoli
Esli Chan retweeted
6/ Really great work by @mika_jpd, @eslichan, Zeynep Pehlivan, Chris Ross, @AengusBridgman and Ben Steel. Read the brief: mediatechdemocracy.com/en/pu…
Esli Chan retweeted
Over 400 researchers and I have signed this open letter calling for the AI and security communities to come together to improve alignment and containment approaches in order to protect our critical infrastructure and digital systems.
ai-security-letter.org/
Esli Chan retweeted
Alberta is heading into a high-stakes referendum on Oct. 19 in a rapidly changing information environment. With more people getting their news from political influencers and AI search results, our latest report examines how the conversation is unfolding online. 🧵
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Our latest incident report examines Canada's online reaction to the tragic June 2026 shooting in Cote-des-Neiges, Montreal, and the prevailing narratives that circulated during and following the crisis. 🧵
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On June 22, a shooting in Montreal left three people dead and a community shaken. The shooter outlined the intent of his actions in a manifesto, blending ideological motivations rooted in antisemitism, Marxism, far-right elements, and misogynistic incel-related beliefs. 🧵
Esli Chan retweeted
Thanks to the report authors: @MathieuLavigne3, Saewon Park, @eslichan, Sara Parker, @chrispyross, @DrJunyanZhu, @ZPehlivan, @AengusBridgman
Read more: tinyurl.com/mu352nx7
Esli Chan retweeted
Hours after the June 22 shooting that claimed three lives in Montreal, the shooter was being lauded in incel forums. Reporter Olivia Bowden examines how online radicalization is complicating Canada’s definition of extremist violence: thewalrus.ca/the-deadly-mont…
Esli Chan retweeted
The argument has moved past whether to govern chatbots. The question is how, and our findings show that the legislation needs to account for the wide variation in how these products are designed.
Read our new policy memo and technical brief here: tinyurl.com/nrrvzspf
Excited to share that my new article, “Gendered negotiation and pragmatism: Evaluating internal rhetorical mobilization in Hong Kong’s anti-ELAB movement” is now published in the @Gender_Journal! đź‡đź‡°
I discuss the concept of “issue hierarchy” where the anti-ELAB cause constrained the discursive space for gender, and how this is not politically neutral but shapes whose experiences are validated.
Full article here: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.…
I discuss how the limited use of gender was pragmatic and strategic: used to galvanize protestors when necessary, create a cohesive movement identity, or reinforce gendered divisions of labour.
Esli Chan retweeted
After Monday's tragic shooting in Montréal, Senior Research Fellow @eslichan joined @TheCurrentCBC to discuss how the suspect's manifesto reflects incel ideology — and what authorities can do to prevent future incidents. 🧵
Esli Chan retweeted
The suspect in yesterday's deadly shooting in Montreal is linked to incel extremism space
#CdnMedia, Esli Chan, @McGillPoliSci PhD Candidate available for comment. Contact @ tinyurl.com/354pk3cw
Reports are emerging that the Montreal shooting suspect is linked to the incel community.
This is not the first instance of misogynistic and antifeminist violence in Montreal (École polytechnique in 1989).
36 years later and GBV is still prevalent in our society.
Fusillade à Montréal: le suspect a laissé un manifeste dans lequel il s’attaque aux femmes
tvanouvelles.ca/2026/06/22/f…
Incels are often dismissed as harmless or an online curiosity, but members of this subculture can and do translate online rage into offline violence. More needs to be done in online GBV and radicalization prevention, focusing on supporting healthy masculinities.
Esli Chan retweeted
Our new incident response report exposes a coordinated network of 340 Facebook pages, largely operated from Vietnam, flooding feeds across Canada, the US, the UK, and Europe with AI-fabricated news, and inadvertently funded by Canadian public and private advertisers. 🧵
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To learn more about what Canadians want from #BillC34, read our latest technical brief by
@eslichan, Bradley Wood-MacLean,
@taylor_owen, and @MathieuLavigne3: tinyurl.com/2ha6h5p9