State of Hate Symposium
The State of Hate and the Path Forward— A Transatlantic Symposium
Wednesday, 18 March 2026 at Fordham University London, 2 Eyre St Hill, EC1R 5ET
This half-day symposium at Fordham London brings together professionals from a variety of disciplines to address the pervasive challenge posed by online abuse and threats. This event is dedicated both to raising awareness of the forms and effects of online abuse and to developing robust, practical solutions to this growing problem.
The program includes:
- Evidence Base: Quantitative data and detection strategies presented by Signify (online abuse in sports).
- Theoretical Frameworks: An academic panel featuring Fordham London faculty tackling the difficult intersection of free speech and online harm.
- Human Focus: First-hand accounts of online abuse and advocacy insights from Jesuit Refugee Service UK.
We will conclude with a high-profile, joint event with the British American Project - UK, uniting US and UK leaders in a policy-focused discussion on accountability, legislation, and collective action to designed to protect vulnerable communities online.
Register Here for the Symposium
This event is free. You are welcome to attend part or all of the symposium.
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Session 1 - Who Draws the Digital Line?: Online Harm and the Fight for Free Speech
2:30 PM - 45 Minutes
Focus: Theory & Understanding
The core academic conversation. This will provide context for the entire day, exploring the question of legal protection amid the uptick in online abuse.
Speakers:
- Becca Farnum, Academic and Activist
- Bamo Nouri, Academic and Journalist
- Piers Benn, Academic and Philosopher
Session 2 - Stopping the Spiral: Policy, Platforms, and Hate
3:30 PM - 30 Minutes
Focus: Advocacy & Societal Impact
JRS UK will explore how political rhetoric and policy, online hatred, and real‑world hate crime feed one another - and how this harms people seeking sanctuary. Grounded in our community’s experience and independent research, we’ll show how dehumanising language, digital abuse and policy are inextricably linked - and why interrupting this cycle is essential to a more just and peaceful society.
Speakers: Jesuit Refugee Services UK (JRS UK)
- Sophie Cartwright, Senior Policy Officer
- Mark Dunn, Community Projects Coordinator
Session 3 - Data-Driven Defense: Tackling Online Hate Targeting Athletes
4:15 PM - 30 minutes
Focus: Data & Technology
Provides quantitative and qualitative evidence of the problem. Signify's expertise in using machine learning to detect and action online abuse in sports will offer concrete, real-world solutions and statistics.
Speaker: Jonathan Hirschler, Co-Founder and CEO, Signify
Session 4 - The Human Toll: A Fireside Chat Regarding the Impact of Online Hate
5 PM - 30 Minutes
Focus: Personal Testimony & Empathy
The human element grounding the academic and technical discussions. This will provide emotional weight and underscore the severe mental and professional consequences of online abuse.
Speaker: To be confirmed
Final Panel - How Do We Build a More Tolerant World in The Age of Online Anonymity?
6-8:30 PM - Doors Open at 6 PM, Panel from 6:30-8 PM, 8:30 PM Close
Focus: Policy & Cross-Cultural Solutions
A high-profile concluding event designed for a wider audience. Speakers from Fordham and the British American Project will discuss the problem of online hate – and, crucially, introduce possible paths forward – from a variety of professional perspectives.
Speakers:
- Lewis Iwu, CEO and Co-Founder, Purpose Union (Moderator)
- Anthony Davidson, Dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies, Fordham University New York
- Further speakers to be confirmed
Food and drinks will be provided for the evening panel.
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Session 1 - Who Draws the Digital Line?: Online Harm and the Fight for Free Speech
Becca Farnum, Activist and Academic
Becca Farnum is an activist-academic whose teaching and research highlights the role of collective action in redressing systemic injustice, especially related to environmental racism. Using musical peacebuilding methodologies, she works with the Jerusalem Youth Chorus on a dialogue project bringing together Israeli and Palestinian communities to build meaningful, equitable relationships amidst power imbalances. More locally to London, Becca serves as a Trustee of Calthorpe Community Garden, where she is currently supporting an anti-hate crime initiative.
Becca graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in anthropology and international relations before moving to the UK as a 2012 Marshall Scholar. She holds an MSc in Water Security and International Development from the University of East Anglia; an LLM in International Law from the University of Edinburgh; and a PhD in Human Geography from King's College London.
Bamo Nouri, Academic and Journalist
Bamo Nouri is an award-winning senior lecturer in International Relations at the University of West London, an Honorary Research Fellow at City St George’s, University of London, and a One Young World Ambassador. He is also an independent investigative journalist and writer with interests in American foreign policy and the international and domestic politics of the Middle East and writes regularly for the Amargi and the Conversation. He is the author of Elite Theory and the 2003 Iraq Occupation by the United States.
Piers Benn, Academic and Philosopher
Dr Piers Benn teaches philosophical ethics at Fordham London. He is a visiting lecturer at the Margaret Beaufort Institute, Cambridge, and a visiting research associate at Trinity College Dublin. Previously he lectured in philosophy at Heythrop College, University of London, and the universities of Leeds and St Andrews. He has also lectured in medical ethics at Imperial College London and King’s College London. His interests include ethics, philosophy of religion (which he recently taught at the university of Roehampton) and philosophical issues connected with free speech and open enquiry. He has written for both academic and wider audiences and has made several appearances in the British media, including as a news reviewer for Sky News and GB News. In 2022 he contributed to Cambridge University’s free speech training initiative. His latest book, Intellectual Freedom and the Culture Wars, was published by Palgrave in 2020. He is the author of a recent essay on ethics, comedy and free speech for the journal of the Royal Institute of Philosophy.
Session 2 - Stopping the Spiral: Policy, Platforms, and Hate
Sophie Cartwright, Senior Policy Officer, JRS UK
Sophie Cartwright is Senior Policy Officer at the Jesuit Refugee Service UK and a Research Associate at the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford. Her work focuses on asylum policy, immigration detention, and statelessness, combining research with advocacy to influence national debate and promote a more humane approach to migration.Sophie has recently authored reports on issues including food insecurity facing people seeking sanctuary, homelessness among refugees in London, and access to justice in immigration detention.Mark Dunn, Community Projects Coordinator, JRS UK
Mark is Community Projects Coordinator at the Jesuit Refugee Service UK, where he leads initiatives that foster encounter and dialogue between refugees and local residents. He has developed a range of projects that bring people together across different backgrounds, and he facilitates community listening sessions exploring themes of migration, identity, and social change.
Prior to joining JRS UK, Mark worked directly with people seeking asylum and undocumented migrants, providing destitution support and housing advice at several charities, including the British Red Cross and Hackney.Session 3 - Data-Driven Defense: Tackling Online Hate Targeting Athletes
Jonathan Hirschler, Co-Founder and CEO, Signify
Jonathan is CEO of ethical data science company, Signify Group. Since 2019, Jonathan has led the development and roll out of Signify’s specialist AI-driven proactive threat detection and protection service - Threat Matrix - an innovative initiative to protect players, athletes and high profile individuals from the poison of online abuse. Working with international federations, national leagues, player unions, clubs, law enforcement and directly with athletes, Threat Matrix has delivered a step-change in the way online abuse is tackled, creating real world action, effective deterrents and taking the onus away from the victim to take action.
Jonathan is Co-Founder and CEO of ethical data science company, Signify Group, a role that draws upon 25+ years of experience at the intersection of politics, online messaging and digital strategy. Jonathan started working in the Houses of Parliament before joining political communications consultancy APCO-UK. In 2003 he founded digital agency ScoreComms which he led for 10 years before being acquired in 2013 by specialist financial services marketing agency, AML Group. During his 5 year tenure at AML, Jonathan served on the Board and as Chief Digital Officer, guiding the business through a digital transformation exercise whilst advising global banking and asset management clients (including BNY Mellon, AXA IM and Pictet Asset Management) on their digital technology, online messaging and social media strategies.
Signify are a data science company that use open source data and proprietary machine learning technology to provide insight and intelligence from bespoke audience to population-level. Signify have a strong record identifying the key issues and likely outcomes in political campaigns: we accurately mapped party support in the last two UK general elections, and in the US, we’ve also worked on Gubernatorial elections and topics including gun control, voter suppression and the design and impact of fake news networks. Our clients include FTSE100 businesses and media outlets as well as several marketing and research agencies.
Session 4 - The Human Toll: A Fireside Chat with a Survivor of Online Hate
To be confirmed.
Final Panel - How Do We Build a More Tolerant World in The Age of Online Anonymity?
Lewis Iwu, CEO and Co-Founder, Purpose Union (Moderator)
Lewis Iwu advises organizations on winning arguments and campaigns for social and environmental issues. He's worked with influential entities like Unilever, Sky, UN, Black Equity Organisation, F1, bp, Allen & Overy, Sanofi, and Pfizer. Lewis published a Masterclass with Malala Yousafzai on achieving social change. He's supported various campaigns, including NatWest's response to racial injustice and opposing the Super League in football. A global public speaking expert and former World Debating Champion, Lewis authored "Words that Win" and coached England to a World Championship. He coached 200 Labour candidates on public speaking and debating for the 2024 general election. Lewis was the founding Director of the Fair Education Alliance and worked at Finsbury and Brunswick. He's written for major publications, given a TEDx talk, and is a British Red Cross Trustee. Educated at Oxford, he holds a PPE degree and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of East London.
Anthony Davidson, Dean of the School of Professional and Continuing Studies
Anthony Davidson is a visionary leader, growth agent, consultant, and award-winning educator who draws upon a distinctive combination of experiences as a dean, professor and entrepreneur to establish excellence and build consensus while generating new growth opportunities. He is recognized as a strategic thinker whose multidisciplinary expertise enables him to solve complex challenges using innovative approaches that align with organizational objectives.
After 15 years of teaching and developing curricula at major universities, he was recruited by New York University where he became the founding dean of the SCPS division of programs in business. Dr. Davidson promoted lifelong learning by building connections among education and industry at all levels, from graduate and undergraduate to postgraduate and executive. He developed rigorous, cross-disciplinary, globally focused on-site and online curricula that were attuned to market demands resulting in it becoming the highest-performing division in the school.
Subsequently Dr. Davidson moved to Manhattanville College where he redesigned its graduate and undergraduate programs, each with a new focus and specific career path geared toward current and aspiring business professionals. It led to the creation of a School of Business of which he became the founding dean. The international appeal of the new curricula convinced the government of the Dominican Republic to fully sponsor 60 high-performing Dominican students to go to his school for their graduate education. Dr. Davidson also created and launched a widely-acclaimed Women’s Leadership Institute with annual conferences and a certificate program designed by women for women.
In August 2016, following a national search, Dr. Davidson was appointed as Dean of Fordham University’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies and within 4 months launched a Real Estate Institute with an impressive advisory council comprised of leading, industry-leading professionals. In addition to three Master’s degrees that have received industry acclaim and market popularity, it currently offers graduate certificates and several professional certificates, and has plans to introduce graduate programs in the area of Hospitality and Hotel Management with a focus on their intersection with real estate. After just one year, Davidson’s strategies resulted in the school’s first year-over-year increase in revenue and enrollments in many years, a trend that has continued to date and, along with other growth initiatives, resulted in a doubling of the School’s revenues after just three years. Dr. Davidson is the author or co-author of numerous invited presentations and papers and has been featured as an expert in articles and on many television and radio shows in segments dedicated to business, e-learning, education, and professional development. He has a BBA in Marketing, an MBA in Business Policy/Finance and a Ph.D. in Management and Systems Science. Dr. Davidson’s research in the field of Total Quality Management helped earn him the prestigious Literati Award for Excellence for outstanding paper of the year
He sits on a number of advisory boards and lists several teaching awards and a doctor of humane letters among his various honors.