[Air-L] 28 April: “How Government Control of Media Influences Large Language Models” by Prof. Margaret E. Roberts

[Ülker Sözen]

“The Many Faces of Digital Authoritarianism" Lecture Series by the ECPR
Research Network on Digital Authoritarianism
<https://ecpr.eu/group/digital-authoritarianism> presents:



*“How Government Control of Media Influences Large Language Models” by
Prof. Margaret E. Roberts (Department of Political Science at the
University of California, San Diego)*



Date and time: 28 April 2026, Tuesday 15:00-16:30 CET (14:00-15:30 UK Time)

Moderator: Dr. Ülker Sözen (University of Passau & Leipzig University)

Find the Zoom link here: https://ecpr.eu/news/news/details/920

You can register the series here:
https://ecpr.eu/Events/Event/PanelDetails/17995



This lecture draws on the research produced by Hannah Waight, Eddie Yang,
Yin Yuan, Solomon Messing, Margaret E. Roberts, Brandon Stewart, and Joshua
Tucker. Millions of people around the world query large language models for
information. While several studies have compellingly documented the
persuasive potential of these models, there is limited evidence of who or
what influences the models themselves, leading to a flurry of concerns
about which companies and governments build and regulate the models. We
show through six studies that government control of the media already
influences the output of large language models via their training data. To
understand the specific mechanism of how government control can influence
LLMs, we begin with a case study of China's media. The combination of
influence and persuasive potential suggests the troubling conclusion that
states and powerful institutions have increased strategic incentives to
leverage media control in the hopes of shaping large language model output.



*Margaret E. Roberts* is a Professor in the Department of Political Science
at the University of California, San Diego. She co-directs the China Data
Lab at the 21st Century China Center. She is also an affiliate at the UC
Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Her research interests lie in
the intersection of political methodology and the politics of information,
with a specific focus on methods of automated content analysis and the
politics of censorship and propaganda in China.


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Dr. Ülker Sözen
Postdoctoral research fellow (DFG 2022-2026, Gerda Henkel Foundation
2024-2027)
Chair of Development Politics, University of Passau
Institute for the Study of Religions, Leipzig University
IRGAC associate member, University of Potsdam
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