The Trust & Safety Teaching Consortium

The Trust & Safety Teaching Consortium is a coalition of academic, industry and non-profit experts in online trust and safety problems. Our goal is to create content that can be used to teach a variety of audiences about trust and safety issues in a wide variety of formats.

We are sharing a 13-module reading list and associated slide decks, recorded lectures, and exercises. We launched the first version of these materials in early 2023, and updated them in late 2023 and early 2024. We encourage instructors to review the resources to ensure they are up to date at the time of use. Note: The slide decks frequently reference readings from the reading list.

The teaching content we created covers sensitive topics, and instructors should carefully review materials before assigning them. Instructors should consider what content warnings they want to apply and what content might not be appropriate for their audience. Many Consortium members tell students what sensitive topics will be covered and when, and they give students the option to skip sensitive classes (or walk out in the middle of class) and skip associated readings without penalty.

If you are interested in helping to create teaching content, email trustandsafetyjournal@stanford.edu to join the Consortium.

We encourage you to use this content for your class; please just email to let us know how you are using the resources so we can track our impact.

Reading List for Core Modules

Reading list

Slide Decks and Exercises for Core Modules

• Introduction to Trust and Safety (Google Slides - last updated fall 2023) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023) (Full-Course Exercise) (20 minute lecture on intelligence in trust and safety by Inbal Goldberger, ActiveFence)

  • Camille François (Columbia University; Niantic Labs); Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat (NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights); Matthew Soeth (All Tech is Human / Tremau); Alex Stamos (Stanford Internet Observatory); Shelby Grossman (Stanford Internet Observatory); Inbal Goldberger (ActiveFence)

• Governments and the Internet (Google Slides - last updated January 2024) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023) (16 minute lecture on Australia's eSafety Commissioner)

  • Karen Maxim (Maxim Law); Chanel Cornett (Zoom); Deborah Welsh (Australia's eSafety Commissioner)
  • Supplementary slide deck: Copyright Safe Harbors and the DMCA by Justin Francese (University of Oregon) (Google Slides)

• Metrics and Measurement (Google Slides - last updated fall 2023) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023) (Exercises)

  • Hill Stark (ActiveFence); Matthew Soeth (All Tech is Human); Justin Francese (University of Oregon); Inbal Goldberger (ActiveFence); Alex Leavitt (Roblox; UC Berkeley); Charu Pokhriyal (Teleperformance); Hill Stark (ActiveFence); James Gresham (Tripadvisor)

• Content Moderation (Google Slides - updated spring 2024) (Google Slides - updated fall 2023) (Latex Slides - only includes first 37 slides from Google Slides deck) (Exercises)

  • Joseph Seering (KAIST); Natalie Campbell (University of Bath, UK); Aparna S. Balasundaram (WIPRO); Bindiya L. Raghunath (WIPRO); Jayshree Sarda (WIPRO)

• Information Environment (Google Slides) (Latex Slides) (45 minute lecture on misinforamtion by Sarah Shirazyan, Stanford Law School)

  • Kevin Aslett (University of Central Florida); Brian Murphy (Georgetown University); Sarah Shirazyan (Stanford Law School)

• Terrorism, Radicalization, and Extremism (Google Slides - last updated fall 2023) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023) (Exercises) (30 minute lecture on terrorism, radicalization, and extremism by Marten Risius, University of Queensland)

  • Marten Risius (University of Queensland); Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat (NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights); Theodora Skeadas (Tech Policy Consulting); Inga Trauthig (The University of Texas at Austin); Mark Schneider

• Harassment and Hate Speech (Google Slides - last updated January 2024) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023) (Exercises) (25 minute lecture on online hate speech by Mark Schneider, University of Pennsylvania)

  • Agnès Evrard; Ina Kamenova (University of Massachusetts Lowell); Mark Schneider (University of Pennsylvania); Theodora Skeadas; Q. J. Yao (Lamar University, Texas)

• Child and Adult Sexual Exploitation (Google Slides) (Exercises)

  • Caroline Humer (International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children); Leslie Taylor (Genpact)

• Suicide, Self-Harm, and Well-Being (Google Slides - last updated fall 2023) (Exercises) (45 minute lecture from Katherine Keyes, Columbia University)

  • Katherine Keyes (Columbia University); Alex Leavitt (Roblox; UC Berkeley); Elena Cryst (Stanford Internet Observatory); Kathleen Boehle (Securly); Ina Kamenova (University of Massachusetts Lowell)

• Authentication, Identity, and Platform Manipulation (Google Slides) (Exercises)

  • Lee Foster (Alperovitch Institute for Cybersecurity Studies at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies); Tabea Wilke (Twincler); Charu Pokhriyal (Teleperformance); Kashyap Puranik

• Types of Attack Surfaces (Google Slides, with a focus on cybersecurity - last updated fall 2023) (Google Slides - last updated spring 2023) (Exercises)

  • Kevin Fumai (Oracle); Matthew Soeth (All Tech is Human); Justin Francese (University of Oregon); Alex Leavitt (Roblox; UC Berkeley); Charu Pokhriyal (Teleperformance)

• Emerging Technologies and Career Advice (Google Slides - last updated January 2024) (Exercises) (Latex Slides - last updated summer 2023)

  • Radia Funna (Build n Blaze); Michael Swenson (Meta); Amar Ashar (Berkman Klein Center)

Teaching Materials Shared by Instructors

• Introduction day slide deck from Kevin Aslett (University of Central Florida) for Politics of Online Security
• Undergraduate syllabus and graduate syllabus from Laura McLester (University of Alabama at Birmingham) for Digital Safety
• Slide deck for lecture on investigations and intelligence from Laura McLester (University of Alabama at Birmingham) for Digital Safety
• Slide deck for lecture on hate speech and harassment from Laura McLester (University of Alabama at Birmingham) for Digital Safety
• Syllabus from Jospeh Seering (KAIST) for Trust and Safety Engineering
• Slide deck for lecture on community moderation from Jospeh Seering (KAIST) for Trust and Safety Engineering

Teaching Consortium Members Teaching Online Safety in the 2023-2024 Academic Year

• Kevin Aslett, University of Central Florida

  • Politics of Online Security

• Olga Belogolova, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

  • Influence Operations in the Digital Age

• Lee Foster, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

  • Threat Intelligence for Information Operations

• Camille François, Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

  • Introduction to Trust & Safety

• Justin Francese, University of Oregon

  • Communication Law J385

• Beth Goldberg, Yale University

  • Misinformation in the Age of AI

• Inbal Goldberger, ActiveFence

  • NYU - ActiveFence Trust & Safety Academy

• Shelby Grossman, Stanford Internet Observatory

  • Trust and Safety Engineering

• Jeff Hancock, Stanford Internet Observatory

  • Trust and Safety Engineering

• Laura McLester, The University of Alabama at Birmingham

  • Digital Safety

• Lisa Schirch, University of Notre Dame

  • Peacetech and Digital Peacebuilding

• Joseph Seering, KAIST

  • Trust and Safety Engineering and Practice

• Sarah Shirazyan, Stanford Law School

  • Confronting Misinformation Online: Law and Policy

• Alex Stamos, Stanford Internet Observatory

  • Trust and Safety Engineering

Example Course Descriptions

• Laura McLester: Digital Safety, course description
• Alex Stamos, Jeff Hancock, Shelby Grossman: Trust and Safety Engineering, course description

External Teaching Resources

• Trust and Safety Curriculum from the Trust & Safety Professional Association
• Trust & Safety Tycoon - a game created by Mike Masnick