Joseph Guay

Joe Guay is a Fellow in UNIDIR’s Security and Technology Programme and the Global Lead for Deceptive Behaviors Policy at TikTok.

Joe’s research interests revolve around applications of international humanitarian law to information operations, hybrid conflict, and digital hostilities. He’s also interested in the role of open source investigations in uncovering and documenting weaponization of information activities in situations of armed conflict.

Joe holds a BA in International Relations from Lehigh University and a Master’s degree in Political Science from Suffolk University. His research on emerging technologies and protection of civilians has been featured in ALNAP, Brookings Institute, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard Institute for Global Law and Policy, Oxford University Press (a chapter in Digital Witness), Oxford University’s Humanitarian Innovation Project, US Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, amongst others.

Prior to working in trust and safety roles at large social media platforms, Joe worked for a decade in humanitarian protection, atrocity prevention, and conflict and security fields, with a focus on emerging technologies and the vulnerabilities that these engender for crisis affected populations. Joe has led field-based deployments, multi-phase research programs, multilateral dialogues, and simulated learning environments to develop solutions for diagnosing and responding to information-based threats in fragile contexts. Most recently, he co-led the development of the Weaponization of Information Research (WIRe) program at the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) from 2018 through 2019.