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Dear ICA community,

We are delighted to announce the publication of our new special issue in New Media & Society, centred on the *contextual* nature of violence on digital platforms. Edited by Esteban Morales, Martin Lundqvist, and myself, the issue intervenes in ongoing debates about platform governance, harm, power, visibility, and circulation, by arguing that violence cannot be understood in isolation from the infrastructures, cultural narratives, governance regimes, and local dynamics through which it emerges.

Our issue brings together 10 papers that collectively showcase how attending to context transforms our understanding of the platformization of violence, offering conceptual, empirical, and methodological pathways for advancing research in this rapidly evolving field. Together, the papers travel across platforms and practices, from TikTok and Twitch to internet shutdowns in Sri Lanka and sites of participatory warfare, engaging with phenomena such as image-based abuse, memetic misogyny, conspiracy imaginaries, and self-documented terrorism.

The issue is available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/nmsa/28/4  

Table of contents:

- Morales, E., Divon, T., & Lundqvist, M. (2026). Context matters: Understanding the platformization of violence. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1395–1411. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448261420823

- Cabanzo Valencia, M., & Guntrum, L. G. (2026). Race, ethnicity, and technology-facilitated violence: The experience of activists in Chocó, Colombia. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1412–1436. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251344286

- de Keulenaar, E., & Alves dos Santos, M., Jr. (2026). Normative dislocation: When platforms moderate without memory. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1437–1463. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251364814

- Petersen, L. N., & Johansen, M. B. (2026). The violence of online conspiracy theories. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1464–1481. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251336431

- Eriksson Krutrök, M., & Mitchell, J. (2026). Memeing the moniker: The stickiness of gang myths in Swedish news legacy media and TikTok. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1482–1503. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251338507

- Ryder, C. (2026). Affordance folklore: Truth, community and visibility during Sri Lanka's Internet shutdowns. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1504–1523. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251357264

- Morse, T., & Altaratz, D. (2026). Witnessing carnage: Self-documented terrorism and the moral challenges of decentralized digital platforms. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1524–1549. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251370967

- Harris, B. C., Tran, C. H., & Persaud, C. J. (2026). Contextual governance & androcentric hegemony on Twitch.tv. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1550–1570. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251370965

- Henry, N., Vowles, C., & Beard, G. (2026). "Doing gender": A digital ethnography of image-based abuse perpetration. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1571–1591. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251356604

- Özkula, S. M., & Prieto-Blanco, P. (2026). Just a meme? The role of context in mythologies of memetic misogyny. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1592–1618. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251396942

- Chonka, P. (2026). (De)constructing research 'expertise' in transnational participatory warfare. New Media & Society, 28(4), 1619–1637. https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448251357269

We hope our issue offers insights that can traverse across contexts and be useful to the community and beyond. We also warmly welcome any questions or reflections it might spark.

Esteban Morales (Esteban.Morales@royalroads.ca)

Tom Divon (tom.divon@mail.huji.ac.il)

Martin Lundqvist (martin.lundqvist@iko.lu.se)