Keeping young people safe online
​During my PhD at UCL’s Department for Security and Crime Science, I explored how illicit drugs are sold and advertised to young people on social media, generating insights to inform safer platform design, policy, and harm-reduction strategies.
My research was supervised by Prof. Shane Johnson, Dr. Marie Vasek and Dr. Enrico Mariconti; and funded by the
Illicit drugs on social media
Illicit drugs have become increasingly visible on social media, creating new risks for young people who spend more time online. My research, conducted through four interlinked studies during my doctoral work at UCL, examined how drugs are sold and advertised online, and how platforms, users, and institutions can respond to reduce harm.
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This work included a multidisciplinary scoping review, a national survey of UK school students, and experimental studies on safeguarding interventions, as well as a digital ethnography with the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s YourPolice.UK initiative. Together, these projects highlighted the complexity of online drug markets and demonstrated the importance of combining proactive detection, user engagement, and trusted institutional relationships to build safer digital environments.
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The research directly informed policy and industry practice. Findings contributed to the development of the UK’s Online Safety Act, supported consultations with Ofcom, and were shared with social media platforms including Meta and TikTok to inform moderation and safety strategies. I also joined the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) working group on internet-facilitated drug markets, where I am currently contributing to a review that will inform national strategy.
Beyond my PhD, I also carried out projects that explored online safety in gaming and augmented reality environments such as PokémonGO, including responsible disclosures to industry and collaboration with trust and safety teams to improve protections for children.
