Our faculty

SOON, Carol

SOON, Carol

SOON, Carol
孙婉婷

Principal Research Fellow
Head, Society and Culture

Dr Carol Soon is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies where she heads the Society and Culture department. She has a PhD in Communications and New Media from the National University of Singapore. Carol is also Adjunct Principal Scientist at the Centre for Advanced Technologies in Online Safety (CATOS) at the Institute of High Performance Computing (A*STAR) and Principal Investigator at NUS Centre for Trusted Internet and Community (CTIC). Her research interests are in false information, online safety, digital literacy and inclusion, media regulation, new media and activism, and public engagement and deliberation. She has published her research in books and peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Asian Journal of Communication and Public Integrity. She worked with the Ministry of Health in 2017 on Singapore’s first citizens’ jury and is currently working with various government agencies on engaging citizens in co-creating policy solutions.

Carol is also Associate Director of the Asia Journalism Fellowship which is supported by Temasek Foundation. She is the Vice Chair of Singapore’s Media Literacy Council and a member of the Industry Advisory Panel for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the Singapore University of Technology and Design. She sits on the Civil Service College-Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth Partnerships and Engagement Experts Panel. She was part of the Ministry of Communications and Information’s Digital Readiness Network, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth’s Youth Conversations Advisory Panel, and the YouTube News Working Group. Carol has taught courses at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the University Scholars Programme at NUS.

In 2015, Carol received the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy Research Excellence Award. She was also a recipient of the Australian Endeavour Award in 2012. Prior to joining academia, she worked in the corporate sector where she developed communication campaigns for profit and non-profit organisations.

Research Interests

Media regulation; digital inclusion; social media and politics; digital and public engagement; message design; Singapore as a digital village

Publications

Op-eds/Commentaries

Conference Participation and Presentations/Speeches

  • Speaker, Lianhe Zaobao’s 5th Singapore-China Forum, Youth Engagement and Media, 21 November 2023, Beijing, China.
  • Speaker, Konrad Adenauer Siftung’s Communication Technology and Citizenship Asia Conference, 20-21 October 2023, Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Moderator, Trust and Safety Professionals Association APAC Summit, Panel Discussion on “It’s Complicated: Balancing Content Moderation and Government Regulation in the APAC Region”, 11 October 2023.
  • Speaker, 3rd Global Summit for Mental Health Advocates, Breakout Session on “Digital Wellbeing: Thriving in the Online Space”, 10 October 2023.
  • Moderator, Ministry of Law-Singapore Management University Online Harms Symposium Panel Discussion on “Fostering Inclusive Online Spaces: Studying the Impact of Online Hate”, 27 September 2023.
  • Speaker at Ministry of Law- Singapore Management University Panel Discussion on “The Internet, Social Media and Online Harms: Global Solutions for a Vital Issue”, 25 September 2023.
  • Speaker, Asia Competitiveness Institute Seminar on “Enhancing Digital Inclusion in ASEAN”, 28 June 2023.
  • Discussant, Inforcomm Media Development Authority of Singapore’s Asia Tech Summit Roundtable on “Building Digitally Resilient Communities”, 7 June 2023.
  • Speaker, National Youth Council 6th National Youth Dialogue with Minister for Community, Culture and Youth Edwin Tong, 24 May 2023.
  • Speaker, Ministry of Education Pre-University Seminar on “Living Together - The Future of Our Community Ties and National Identity”, 28 April 2023.
  • Guest lecturer, Global Data Policy and Governance, Australian National University, 24 April 2023.
  • Speaker and Chair, Asia Internet Coalition Online Safety Forum, Singapore, 6-7 December 2022.
  • Speaker, Governance through Citizens’ Panel, LKYSPP Festival of Ideas, 13 October 2022.
  • Speaker, The Changing Landscape of E-Democracy, KAS Asian Conference for Political Communication, Singapore, 12-13 October 2022.
  • Speaker, Civil Service College Symposium on Digital Behaviours, 17 June 2022.
  • Keynote Speaker, TOUCH Annual Family Conference, 2 June 2022.
  • Speaker, Singapore University of Social Sciences Sociovation Forum, 1 June 2022.
  • Speaker, Millennia Institute’s Cyber Wellness Forum 2022, 25 May 2022.
  • Speaker and Resource Person, Ministry of Education Pre-University Seminar for National Junior College, 5 May 2022.
  • Moderator, 11th SR Nathan Fellow Patrick Daniel’s Lecture 2: Grappling with the Darker Side of the Internet: A Global Challenge, 2 March 2022.
  • Speaker, Governing the information ecosystem: Southeast Asia’s fight against political deceit, Asian Fact Checking Network Conference, Blackdot Research, 27 January 2022, online.
  • Speaker, Battling the scourge of false information, A*STAR Social Science and Technology Horizontal Program Office Seminar Series, 20 January 2022, online.
  • Panellist, NUS-SCALE Microsoft Roundtable on National Recovery and Digital Transformation, 1 December 2021, online.
  • Panellist, Lianhe Zaobao Panel Discussion on Foreign Interference Bill, 20 September 2021, Singapore
  • Speaker, Regional Fact- Checkers Network Webinar, Blackdot Research, 10 September 2021.
  • Respondent, Conference on Trustworthy Health Data Governance, Centre for Biomedical Ethics, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, 1 September 2021, online.
  • Panellist, National Library Board’s Read Fest, 9 July 2021, online.
  • Guest Speaker, Eunoia JC Pre-Seminar Series, 14 April 2021, online.
  • Convener and Moderator, IPS Closed-Door Discussion on Platforms and Publishers, 7 April 2021, online.
  • Guest Speaker, Singapore International Foundation Impact Journalism Fellowship, 30 March 2021, online.
  • Panellist, Edelmann Trust Barometer 2021 Launch, 16 March 2021, online.
  • Panellist, Digital Sovereignty — Laws and Policies to govern digital media and social media in Asia, Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 17 March 2021, Singapore.
  • Panellist, Smart Nation & U, Ministry of Communications and Information and Smart Nation and Digital Government Office, 12 March 2021, Singapore.
  • Panellist, Designing toward a creative city: Positioning the citizen in Singapore’s rebranding, ServDes 2020, 4 February 2021, online.
  • Moderator, Restoring public trust in our information ecosystem, Milken Institute Asia Summit 2020, 9 December 2020, Singapore.
  • Keynote Speaker, COVID-19 and Singapore: 3Ps approach in Singapore, Daegu Creative City Forum, 26 November 2020, online.
  • Speaker, COVID-19 and technological transformation — Situational and structural considerations, RISK QUOTIENT 2020: COVID-19 Pandemic and A Brave New World Conference (KAIST- Lloyd's Register Foundation Institute for the Public Understanding of Risk), 29 October 2020, online.
  • Speaker and Convener, Social media and General Election 2020, IPS Forum on General Election 2020, 8 October 2020, online.
  • Speaker, Lightning Talk – Singapore. Speaker, Google APAC Trusted Media Summit 2020, 1-2 October 2020, online.
  • Chair and Convenor, IPS Forum on Social Media and Electoral Integrity, 26 June 2020, online.
  • Chair and Convener, Private data, public good, IPS Online Forum, 13 May 2020, online.
  • Panellist, IPS-Facebook Live Forum on Covid-19, 25 February 2020, Facebook Live.
  • Panellist, How should fact-checkers work with governments? Google’s Trusted Media Summit APAC 2019, 8 December 2019, Singapore.
  • Panellist, Serious journalism matters: The future of news, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy’s The Festival of Ideas, 20 November 2019, Singapore.
  • Panellist, Inclusive innovation and social cohesion in Asia, Bertelsmann Stiftung Panel, 31 October 2019, Singapore.
  • Chair and Conference Organiser, IPS-IMDA Conference on Digital Inclusion, 26 July 2019.
  • Speaker, IPS-MCCY Sharing City Workshop, 25 June 2019.
  • Speaker, Facebook News Literacy Conference, 19—20 June 2019, Taipei, Taiwan.
  • Speaker, Training Workshop on Citizens’ Jury, Civil Service College, 17-18 June 2019.
  • Presenter, Panel on Disinformation in Asia, 69th International Communication Association Conference, 24-28 May 2019, Washington DC, US.
  • Panellist, INSPIRIT Community Forum on “Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill”, National Youth Council, 9 May 2019.
  • Convenor and Chair, IPS-MLC Workshop on Better Internet, 12 March 2019.
  • Panel Chair, Media Literacy Council’s Better Internet Conference, 11 March 2019. 
  • Speaker, “Staying ahead of the fakes: Counter measures 2.0”, Total Defense Day 2019, Singapore Discovery Centre, 22 February 2019.
  • Keynote Speaker, Regional Workshop on Social Media and Digital Platform Governance, Ministry of Digital Economy and Society of Thailand and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, 18 February 2019
  • Speaker, MOE Gifted Education Annual Conference, Raffles Institution, 23 November 2018.
  • Panellist, Facebook Community Standards Forum, 13 November 2018.
  • Panellist, Singapore Tourism Board’s Annual Corporate Planning Exercise, 30 October 2018.
  • Convenor and Conference Chair, Asia Journalism Forum on “Power Shifts in Journalism — Impact and Implications”, 20—21 September 2018.
  • Speaker, Asia Journalism Fellowship Workshop on Fake News, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, 7 September 2018.
  • Panellist, Disinformation and Discourse Conference, organised by Digital Asia Hub, Chatham House and Berkman Klein Centre, 21 July 2018.
  • Presenter, “Social media: Changing landscapes of e-democracy”, at the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Media Programme Asia Asian Conference for Political Communication, Singapore, 4 September 2017.
  • Presenter, “Survey and offline sensing”, at the Digital Frontiers Seminar Series: Man and Machine (2) – Online and Offline Sensing of Public Sentiments on National Day Rally 2016.
  • Invited Keynote Speaker, “Communication and engagement in the age of new media”, at a conference organised by Step Up International, Manila, 3 September 2016.
  • Chair and Panel Organiser, “Transforming communicative power through evolving electorates, technologies, communication and public opinion”, at the International Communication Association Conference, Fukuoka, 9–13 June 2016.
  • Speaker, “Digital village: Going beyond Smart Nation”, at Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government, Krems (Austria), 9–13 May 2016.
  • Panellist, “Expression in the new media age: Possibilities and threats”, at NUS Social Policies Forum 2016, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 5 February 2016.
  • Panellist, “Expression in the new media age: Possibilities and threats”, at NUS Social Policies Forum 2016, National University of Singapore, Singapore, 5 February 2016.
  • Chair, “Unlocking the social value of the sharing economy”, organised by the Centre for Liveable Cities Lecture Series, Ministry of National Development, Singapore, 26 January 2016.
  • Presenter, “Study on Internet and media use during General Election 2015”, at the Post-Election Conference organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore, 4 November 2015.
  • Presenter, “Microcosms of a digital village”, at the Digital Frontiers Seminar Series: The Power of Self-Solving in the Singapore Digital Village: Sharing Economy as a Case Study organised by the Institute of Policy Studies, Singapore, 18 September 2015.
  • Presenter, “The media freedom-credibility paradox”, at the 24th Asian Media Information and Communication Centre International Conference, Dubai, 10–13 June 2015.
  • Presenter, “Managing growing pains: Regulation and the online space”, at the International Communication Association, San Juan (Puerto Rico), 21–25 May 2015.
  • Presenter, “Chinese-language bloggers in Singapore — Apoliticised and blogging alone”, at the Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government Asia, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 4–6 December 2014.
  • Presenter, “Singapore as a digital village”, at the Cities Roundtable, Singapore, 28 November 2014.
  • Invited Speaker, “Positive use of new media and social media”, at the Singapore Girls’ Chinese School World Readiness Conversations, Singapore, 7 May 2014.
  • Speaker, “The changing face of civic engagement”, at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, 29 January 2014.
  • Invited Speaker, “Technology and change”, at the Institute of Policy Studies Civil Society Conference, Singapore, 11 November 2013.
  • Invited Speaker with Smith, M., “Making sense of social media: Who, what, how”, at CENS’ Social Media and Digital Maturity: Implications for National Security Workshop, Singapore, 31 October–1 November 2013.
  • Invited Speaker, “Internet technologies and the women’s movement in Singapore”, at the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) Roundtable, Singapore, 23 October 2013.
  • Invited Lecture, “Going digital: Technology and collective action in Singapore”, at the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore, 11 July 2013.
  • Presenter, “Net technologies, net gain: An institutional and micro-structural approach to understanding technology use for collective action”, at the Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government, Krems (Austria), 22–25 May 2013. (Selected for best peer-reviewed papers.)
  • Public Lecture, “The changing face of the women’s movement in Singapore”, at the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, Perth, 7 December 2012. Supported by the Australian Endeavour Award.
  • Invited Lecture, “New media and activism among non-governmental organizations and grassroots organizations”, at the Department of Communication, University of Washington, Seattle, 12 October 2011.
  • Presenter, “OMGs! Offline-based movement organizations, online-based movement organizations and implications for network mobilization and issue framing”, at the Asia’s Civil Spheres: New Media Urban Public Space, Social Movements, Asia Research Institute, Singapore, 29–30 September 2011.
  • Speaker, “Resistance and technology roundtable part 1: Regulation, structure, and resistance”, at the Association of Internet Researchers Conference Roundtable session, Seattle, 10–14 October 2011.
  • Presenter, “What goes on behind the “social”: Roles of social networks in engendering and sustaining the collective action among political bloggers”, at the International Communication Association, Boston, 26–10 May 2011.
  • Presenter, “Activist bloggers and collective action: Collective individualism as a force to contend with”, at theInternational Communication Association, Singapore, 22–26 June 2010.
  • Panel Presenter, “3Ts in capturing spectral communication: Technology applications, technology use and time”, at the International Communication Association, Singapore, 22–26 June 2010.
  • Presenter, “Politics online: Who’s in and who’s out in the network of bloggers, parties and political organizations”, at the AoIR Internet Research 10.0: Internet — Critical, Milwaukee, 7–10 October 2009.
  • Panel Presenter, “Politicizing blogging: blogging networks as emerging social movements”, at the AoIR Internet Research 10.0: Internet — Critical, Milwaukee, 7–10 October 2009.
  • Presenter, “The emergence of e-research in Asia, its potential and the realities for the social sciences: Case studies of Singapore and South Korea”, at the Oxford eResearch Conference, Oxford, 11–13 September 2008.

Courses taught

  • New media and politics, University Scholars Programme, National University of Singapore.
  • Media, public opinion and public policy, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore.
  • New media and policy communication, as part of the Public Sector Leadership and Management for Indian Revenue Service Officers, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, 1 April 2016.

Awards

  • Research Excellence Award (2015). Awarded by Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.
  • Top Peer-Reviewed Paper (2013). Awarded by Conference for E-Democracy and Open Government, Krems (Austria), 22–25 May 2013.
  • Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship (2012). Awarded by the Australian Government, hosted by Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, August–December 2012.
  • Graduate Students’ Teach Award (2011). Awarded by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.
  • Best Teaching Scholar (2010). Awarded by the Communications and New Media Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.
  • Best Teaching Scholar (2009). Awarded by the Communications and New Media Programme, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, National University of Singapore.
  • Fee Waiver Recipient (2009). Awarded by Association of Internet Researchers.

Committees/Directorships

  • Vice Chair, Media Literacy Council
  • Non-Executive Director, EVOLV Communications
  • Member, Political Films Consultative Committee
  • Member, National Crime Prevention Council
  • Member, Civil Service College-Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth Partnerships and Engagement Experts Panel
  • Member, Industry Advisory Panel for Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Singapore University of Technology and Design