William H Dutton

• PhD in Political Science
• Fellow at University of Oxford

Data on cybersecurity capacity building efforts is critical to improving cybersecurity at national levels. Policy should be informed not only by measures that allow internal assessment of strengths and weaknesses that enable cross-national comparisons. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and its Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI) has use...

The rise of the press led to the development of an independent institution: the Fourth Estate, central to pluralist democratic processes. In the digital age, the internet and related information and communication technologies are enabling a network power shift—empowering a Fifth Estate. Networked individuals are becoming an independent and highly d...

This paper assesses the impact of cybersecurity education, awareness raising, and training (CEAT) on the vitality of internet use and services at the national level. CEAT encompasses one of five dimensions of a larger cybersecurity capacity building model (CMM) that was developed by the Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre. The paper describes this...

The present study challenges prevailing beliefs and research on the role of social media in supporting deliberation and an active public sphere. Based on a two-wave online panel survey ( n = 791) of the adult population of Hong Kong, as one case of a politically polarized society, we examine the degree to which individuals disconnect from those wit...

William H. Dutton é professor emérito da University of Southern California (USC), desde 2002, e afiliado ao Oxford Internet Institute (OII), como membro sênior, e ao Global Cyber Security Capacity Center (GCSCC) do Departamento de Ciência da Computação, como Oxford Martin Fellow, na University of Oxford. Em Oxford, foi, ainda, o primeiro Professor...

This paper assesses the impact of cybersecurity education, awareness raising, and training (CEAT) on the vitality of internet use and services at the national level. CEAT encompasses one of five dimensions of a larger cybersecurity capacity building model (CMM) that was developed by the Global Cybersecurity Capacity Centre. The paper describes this...

This article explores the implications of a shift to working from home (WFH) in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature and news coverage of this topic focuses on rising concerns over cybersecurity. Based on in-depth exploratory interviews with cybersecurity experts, it is apparent that cybersecurity problems do arise, but the advances...

This study examines the relationship between mode of Internet access, variety of online activities, and the potential for the Internet to contribute to local social capital in distressed, urban communities. Based on a sample of 525 telephone surveys in Detroit, findings show that breadth of access predicts participation in a larger variety of onlin...

The growing centrality of cybersecurity has led many governments and international organisations to focus on building the capacity of nations to withstand threats to the public and its digital resources. These initiatives entail a range of actions that vary from education and training to technology and related standards, as well as new legal and po...

This paper presents an empirical study of the social and cultural aspects of cybersecurity capacity building in 78 nations. While nations within geographically defined regions might be expected to share similar attitudes, values, and practices around cybersecurity, this analysis finds that regional differences can be explained largely by cross-nati...

The popular story of coal miners bringing a canary deep into the coal mines to warn of dangerous levels of poisonous gases might have a modern day parallel. Liberal democracies across the world saw the diffusion of the Internet in the twenty-first century giving rise to a Fifth Estate – a collectivity of networked individuals who could use the Inte...

During political debate broadcasts, social media platforms allow members of the public to come together to express, in real time, their opinions of candidates and issues. Focusing on the first televised presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016, this study explores the ways in which members of the public joked about, deri...

This paper examines how digital innovation develops in ecologies of distributed heterogeneous actors with contesting logics, diverse technologies and various forms of orchestrations. Drawing on the insights from the emerging theory of digital innovation augmented by an institutional logics perspective, we study how over 20 years residential Interne...

ABSTRACT National cybersecurity capacity building involves the development of managerial, technical, social, legal, policy, and regulatory initiatives by a growing ecology of actors to enhance the resilience of nations to cybersecurity breaches, cybercrime, and terrorism. Capacity building is therefore resource intensive, requiring attention across...

National cybersecurity capacity building involves the development of managerial, technical, social, legal, policy, and regulatory initiatives by a growing ecology of actors to enhance the resilience of nations to cybersecurity breaches, cybercrime, and terrorism. Capacity building is therefore resource intensive, requiring attention across sectors...

As many as three million households with school-aged children in the United States do not have any Internet service at home, and 18% do not have a broadband connection, creating a “homework gap” between those who can access the Internet to support their schoolwork at home, and those who cannot. Based on a series of empirical case studies of efforts...

This summarizes the initial results from the 2019 wave of the Oxford Internet Survey (OxIS).

Threats to and attacks on the security of the Internet—unauthorized access to digital resources, such as computer hardware, software, data, and data centers—have become a major global issue in the twenty-first century. One consequence is that policy-makers are focusing more attention on global strategies, given that nations without the capacity to...

Concern over filter bubbles, echo chambers, and misinformation on the Internet are not new. However, as noted by Howard and Bradshaw (Chapter 12), events around the 2016 US presidential election and the UK’s Brexit referendum brought these concerns up again to near-panic levels, raising questions about the political implications of the algorithms t...

The attitudes and values of Internet users and non-users have frequently been studied, but they have rarely been used to identify broader patterns that could define general cultural orientations to the Internet. This chapter describes these orientations and how they might shape digital divides, such as why some people choose not to use the Internet...

This study challenges conventional expectations around Internet access and use in distressed urban neighbourhoods in the United States. Based on the findings of a survey of 525 Detroit, Michigan, residents, this study suggests that Detroit communities are more interested and more instrumental in their use of the Internet than suggested by character...

In the 1970s, telecommunication experts and journalists promoted conceptions of a wired city. They were inspired by the convergence of computing and telecommunications in the design of new cable systems, but their visions focused on the social uses and implications of local and interactive, two‐way communications, in contrast to one‐to‐many nationa...

Live social media commentary increasingly accompanies televised political debates. This study examines the democratic role of live Twitter commentary by analyzing a sample of tweets published during the first 2016 presidential debate between Trump and Clinton. The practices of live commenters – including joke-sharing and fact-checking – are assesse...

There are concerns across government, industry, and academia over the inadequacies of data on broadband Internet connections. These inadequacies are important to consider because government policies and regulations, industry strategies, and scholarly research can be impacted by inaccurate or distorted data. Given that there are ongoing discussions...

Key findings of the 2019 Oxford Internet Survey include: • After many years of rapid change, parts of the Internet are stabilising • Internet users have rapidly increased banking, commercial and entertainment activity • Generally, there are small or no increases in content-production activities like posting pictures, commenting, reviewing, ma...

This paper applies a framework of the Ecology of Games (EoG) to explain the development of a series of disruptive innovations (DI) in the residential Internet in Belarus that involve the interplay of innovation communities and other multiple heterogeneous actors. Applying the EoG framework to a case study of DI, it is possible to explicate the proc...

There are concerns across government, industry, and academia over the inadequacies of data on broadband Internet connections. These inadequacies are important to consider because government policies and regulations, industry strategies, and scholarly research can be impacted by inaccurate or distorted data. Given that there are ongoing discussions...

It is assumed that the benefits of building national cyber security capacity are widespread, largely based on common sense, limited case studies, anecdotal evidence, and expert opinion. This paper reports on the early phase of a systematic effort to bring together cross-national data from multiple sources to examine indicators related to the cyber...

Researchers on digital divides have identified demographic and attitudinal factors associated with inequalities in access, skills, and patterns of Internet use, primarily around age, income, and education. While the attitudes and values of Internet users and non-users have been studied over the years, they have rarely been used to identify broader...

Since the early years of the personal computer, when computing began to diffuse to the general public, social researchers have focused on the (non)use of information and communication technologies in the household and the impact of the resulting digital divides on social and economic inequalities. The Internet's diffusion led this work to become an...

Purpose This paper aims to provide a critical perspective on the major opportunities and challenges facing the future of wireless access to broadband internet services in the USA. In particular, it seeks to develop realistic expectations for new entrants and existing wireline broadband providers, hoping to diversify into wireless to extend the rea...

Cyber security experts have acknowledged the need to focus more attention on the attitudes, beliefs and practices of end-users. Unfortunately, rather than fostering social research on users, this realisation has more often led to blaming users for security problems and sponsorship of fear-based campaigns directed at end-users. This scholarly essay...

The work to revitalize American cities is intertwined with the push for “digital cities”. A number of infrastructure and user-oriented initiatives have developed across the US to increase Internet access, Internet adoption, and digital literacy skills supporting digital inclusion. At the same time, researchers, policymakers, and practitioners alike...

Gambling problems have been linked to suicidal ideation and enhanced risk of suicide attempts. However, we know very little about the factors associated with either thoughts or acts of self-harm amongst people who gamble. A web-based study of 4125 online gamblers (79% males; mean age 35.5 years), analysed using hierarchical multiple regression, rev...

This paper draws from empirical research on Internet users to identify the elements that accompany/define a cybersecurity mindset, and the factors likely to support its acquisition. Based on a survey of online workers, we found a pattern of beliefs in the efficacy of personal safer computing efforts, such as using firewalls, protective software and...

Purpose � This paper identifies patterns of online stratification based on cultural values and beliefs among internet users in Britain. Methodology/approach � Using a nationally representative random sample of respondents from the 2013 Oxford Internet Survey, we identify groups of individuals who share beliefs about the internet. Findings � Each gr...

The Internet can be used to reconfigure access to information and people in ways that can support networked individuals and enhance their relative communicative power vis-à-vis other individuals and institutions, such as by supporting collective action, sourcing of information, and whistle blowing. The societal and political significance of the Int...

By using detailed data on Internet access and use in rural and urban areas of Britain, we show the effect of low-speed broadband connection on people’s use of the Internet and the services it provides. We use a three-fold definition of deep rural, shallow rural, and urban areas to explore the nature of the digital divides between these areas, and t...

By using detailed data on Internet access and use in rural and urban areas of Britain, we show the effect of low-speed broadband connection on people’s use of the Internet and the services it provides. We use a three-fold definition of deep rural, shallow rural, and urban areas to explore the nature of the digital divides between these areas, and t...

Arguably, liberal democratic societies are seeing the emergence of a ‘Fifth Estate’ that is being enabled by the Internet. This new organizational form is comparable to, but potentially more powerful than, the Fourth Estate, which developed as a significant force in an earlier period with an independent press and other mass media. While the signifi...

This chapter provides a fresh perspective on the role of the Internet in politics, enabling the most realistic potential for enhancing democratic governance in the digital age. Researchers who are focused on digital politics and democracy are most often addressing the Internet as a tool for supporting traditional democratic institutions, such as co...

We explore the gap between broad conceptions of the Internet common in daily life and the rather narrow framing of most existing work on Internet history. Looking at both scholarly histories and popular myths, we suggest that the expanding scope of the Internet has created a demand for different kinds of history that capture the development of the...

Internet is shaping what jobs go where. It provides an account of how concentration is changing in different industries a nd different sectors. It analyses these trends and proposes an approach to further re search which may move the theory of agglomeration so that full consideration is given to the forces that the Internet has enabled.

Many administrations have launched major initiatives to put public information and services online. Increasingly, citizens and businesses can go online for many public digital government services. Similar initiatives have been tied to digital democracy, such as efforts to support democratic institutions and processes, policy consultations, and impr...

Global debate over alternative approaches to governing the internet has been wide ranging, but increasingly has pivoted around the wisdom of multistakeholder governance. This paper takes controversy around a multistakeholder versus an alternative multilateral approach as a focus for clarifying the changing context and significance of internet gover...

This paper focuses on key economic and social factors underpinning worldwide issues aroundcybersecurity and, identifies a new agenda for addressing these issues that is being shaped by theInternet and related information and communication technologies, such as social media. All actorsin the widening ecology of the Internet require a better social a...

The Internet and related communication and information technologies are becoming a new focus of efforts to support urban decision-making and development, such as around the innovative use of big data analytics. While Detroit has been among the most prominent illustrations of efforts to revitalize major US central cities, far less attention has been...

As its leaders and citizens contend with the nation’s largest-ever municipal bankruptcy, the city of Detroit is emerging as a test bed for creative initiatives aimed at reversing the city’s longstanding decline. While the depth and dimensions of Detroit’s challenges may be historically unique, so too is the potential for leveraging information and...

By using detailed data on Internet access and use in rural and urban areas of Britain, we show the effect of low-speed broadband connection on people’s use of the Internet and the services it provides. We use a three-fold definition of deep rural, shallow rural, and urban areas to explore the nature of the digital divides between these areas, and t...

The technology of the Internet has been a focus of discussion over innovation. In contrast, the social dynamics of the Internet are often portrayed as more stable, slowed by the habits and attitudes of users. This chapter shows that the Internet has experienced dramatic changes in who uses information and communication technologies, for what purpos...

Purpose – This paper aims to provide a critical assessment of the Internet of things (IoT) and the social and policy issues raised by its development. While the Internet will continue to become ever more central to everyday life and work, there is a new but complementary vision for an IoT, which will connect billions of objects – “things” like sens...

The Internet is central to the new media, but the Internet is itself a dynamic technology that is constantly evolving as users adopt and reject new features, devices and applications and use them in ways that are often unanticipated. This article is anchored in longitudinal survey data on how Britons use the Internet, which illuminates the emergenc...

The concept of enhanced cooperation in Internet governance arose with the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society. In the years since the Tunis Agenda was written, “enhanced cooperation” has remained subject to differing interpretations. To assist with ongoing discussions on how to further implement enhanced cooperation in international public pol...