Digital Empathy and Social Media, with Dr Bhanuraj Kashyap

Empathy might seem like a private emotion, something that belongs to the realm of personal relationships rather than public policy. But social media platforms are actively shaping the conditions under which we empathise, or fail to empathise, with one another. When algorithms decide what suffering we see, how it’s framed, and how quickly we move past it, they are not neutral tools. They are helping to shape our moral character.  In this podcast Professor Paul Formosa and guest, Dr Bhanuraj Kashyap, discuss digital empathy and the challenges it raises. The podcast features Bhanuraj’s paper: Kashyap, B., & Formosa, P. (2026). Empathy in the Digital Age: Implications for Content Moderation and Platform Governance. Minds and Machines, 36(2), 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11023-026-09784-x