{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132452"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/132452","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Digital trust, safety, and privacy in the age of emerging technologies: empirical and policy insights from global social media use","abstract":"In today's global digital economy, social media platforms have become powerful tools for information dissemination and fostering global connections. However, driven by advertising-based business models, these platforms also expose users to significant digital risks, including privacy-invasive targeted advertising, fraudulent content and scams. These risks are amplified by integration of Generative AI, enabling hyper-personalized and scalable synthetic content generation. Importantly, these risks disproportionately affect the at-risk and understudied populations, such as young adults, and users from non-Western regions, whose needs are often overlooked in platform design and governance. Through my research, I aim to improve people's online safety, trust, and privacy. I investigate three major risks on social media platforms: a) privacy invasive targeted advertisements; b) fraudulent content and scams on short-form video platforms (SVPs) like TikTok; and c) use of Generative AI in amplifying fraudulent content. To address these challenges, I use a mixed-method approach that integrates interviews, surveys, and content analysis of user-generated videos, and policy reviews. My research makes four key contributions: Non-western users exhibit novel perceptions of targeted ads: Users from South Asia, specifically, India and Bangladesh, prefer emerging ad formats such as influencer-based ads, have heightened concerns regarding fraudulent ads. Privacy behaviors are shaped by social, cultural, and religious norms: Cross-country comparisons reveal that culture and religion significantly influence users' perceptions and privacy management behaviors of targeted ads on social media. These findings underscore the need to move beyond Western-centric privacy paradigms. Fraudulent content and scams on TikTok exploit platform specific features: Fraudulent content and scams are widespread and increasingly sophisticated. Analysis of user-reported cases shows that scammers leverage influencer culture and TikTok-specific mechanisms (e.g., direct messaging and the “For You Page”) to target users. Generative AI governance remains fragmented and insufficient: Existing governance for use of Generative AI to produce and scale synthetic fraudulent content lacks clear enforceable rules, specifically for youth (ages 13-25). Variability across platform policies also signals lack of consensus on ethical use of Generative AI in social media. Overall, my work highlights the inequitable impact of digital harms on vulnerable and understudied populations. It proposes actionable design and policy interventions to enhance digital safety and privacy, contributes to a more responsible and equitable vision for the development and governance of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs).","abstract_html":"In today's global digital economy, social media platforms have become powerful tools for information dissemination and fostering global connections. However, driven by advertising-based business models, these platforms also expose users to significant digital risks, including privacy-invasive targeted advertising, fraudulent content and scams. These risks are amplified by integration of Generative AI, enabling hyper-personalized and scalable synthetic content generation. Importantly, these risks disproportionately affect the at-risk and understudied populations, such as young adults, and users from non-Western regions, whose needs are often overlooked in platform design and governance. Through my research, I aim to improve people's online safety, trust, and privacy. I investigate three major risks on social media platforms: a) privacy invasive targeted advertisements; b) fraudulent content and scams on short-form video platforms (SVPs) like TikTok; and c) use of Generative AI in amplifying fraudulent content. To address these challenges, I use a mixed-method approach that integrates interviews, surveys, and content analysis of user-generated videos, and policy reviews. My research makes four key contributions: Non-western users exhibit novel perceptions of targeted ads: Users from South Asia, specifically, India and Bangladesh, prefer emerging ad formats such as influencer-based ads, have heightened concerns regarding fraudulent ads. Privacy behaviors are shaped by social, cultural, and religious norms: Cross-country comparisons reveal that culture and religion significantly influence users' perceptions and privacy management behaviors of targeted ads on social media. These findings underscore the need to move beyond Western-centric privacy paradigms. Fraudulent content and scams on TikTok exploit platform specific features: Fraudulent content and scams are widespread and increasingly sophisticated. Analysis of user-reported cases shows that scammers leverage influencer culture and TikTok-specific mechanisms (e.g., direct messaging and the “For You Page”) to target users. Generative AI governance remains fragmented and insufficient: Existing governance for use of Generative AI to produce and scale synthetic fraudulent content lacks clear enforceable rules, specifically for youth (ages 13-25). Variability across platform policies also signals lack of consensus on ethical use of Generative AI in social media. Overall, my work highlights the inequitable impact of digital harms on vulnerable and understudied populations. It proposes actionable design and policy interventions to enhance digital safety and privacy, contributes to a more responsible and equitable vision for the development and governance of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs).","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Kaushik, Smirity"],"institution":"University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Information Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wang, Yang","Sanfilippo, Madelyn","Twidale, Micheal","Cobb, Camille","Zou, Yixin"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2025,"date_issued":"2025-12","date_published":"2025-12","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z","subjects":["social media, trust and safety, privacy, generative AI, targeted ads, scams, at-risk population"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright 2025 Smirity Kaushik"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132452","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wang, Yang","Sanfilippo, Madelyn","Twidale, Micheal","Cobb, Camille","Zou, Yixin"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Kaushik, Smirity"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2025-12","2025-08-25"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Information Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["social media, trust and safety, privacy, generative AI, targeted ads, scams, at-risk population"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2025 Smirity Kaushik"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132452"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["In today's global digital economy, social media platforms have become powerful tools for information dissemination and fostering global connections. However, driven by advertising-based business models, these platforms also expose users to significant digital risks, including privacy-invasive targeted advertising, fraudulent content and scams. These risks are amplified by integration of Generative AI, enabling hyper-personalized and scalable synthetic content generation. Importantly, these risks disproportionately affect the at-risk and understudied populations, such as young adults, and users from non-Western regions, whose needs are often overlooked in platform design and governance. Through my research, I aim to improve people's online safety, trust, and privacy. I investigate three major risks on social media platforms: a) privacy invasive targeted advertisements; b) fraudulent content and scams on short-form video platforms (SVPs) like TikTok; and c) use of Generative AI in amplifying fraudulent content. To address these challenges, I use a mixed-method approach that integrates interviews, surveys, and content analysis of user-generated videos, and policy reviews. My research makes four key contributions: Non-western users exhibit novel perceptions of targeted ads: Users from South Asia, specifically, India and Bangladesh, prefer emerging ad formats such as influencer-based ads, have heightened concerns regarding fraudulent ads. Privacy behaviors are shaped by social, cultural, and religious norms: Cross-country comparisons reveal that culture and religion significantly influence users' perceptions and privacy management behaviors of targeted ads on social media. These findings underscore the need to move beyond Western-centric privacy paradigms. Fraudulent content and scams on TikTok exploit platform specific features: Fraudulent content and scams are widespread and increasingly sophisticated. Analysis of user-reported cases shows that scammers leverage influencer culture and TikTok-specific mechanisms (e.g., direct messaging and the “For You Page”) to target users. Generative AI governance remains fragmented and insufficient: Existing governance for use of Generative AI to produce and scale synthetic fraudulent content lacks clear enforceable rules, specifically for youth (ages 13-25). Variability across platform policies also signals lack of consensus on ethical use of Generative AI in social media. Overall, my work highlights the inequitable impact of digital harms on vulnerable and understudied populations. It proposes actionable design and policy interventions to enhance digital safety and privacy, contributes to a more responsible and equitable vision for the development and governance of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs).","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Smirity Kaushik, accepted the attached license on 2025-08-14 at 13:16.","The student, Smirity Kaushik, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-08-15 at 14:13.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-08-25 at 15:46.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22760 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:08"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Digital trust, safety, and privacy in the age of emerging technologies: empirical and policy insights from global social media use"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wang, Yang","Sanfilippo, Madelyn","Twidale, Micheal","Cobb, Camille","Zou, Yixin"],"dc:creator":["Kaushik, Smirity"],"dc:date":["2025-12","2025-08-25"],"dc:description":["In today's global digital economy, social media platforms have become powerful tools for information dissemination and fostering global connections. However, driven by advertising-based business models, these platforms also expose users to significant digital risks, including privacy-invasive targeted advertising, fraudulent content and scams. These risks are amplified by integration of Generative AI, enabling hyper-personalized and scalable synthetic content generation. Importantly, these risks disproportionately affect the at-risk and understudied populations, such as young adults, and users from non-Western regions, whose needs are often overlooked in platform design and governance. Through my research, I aim to improve people's online safety, trust, and privacy. I investigate three major risks on social media platforms: a) privacy invasive targeted advertisements; b) fraudulent content and scams on short-form video platforms (SVPs) like TikTok; and c) use of Generative AI in amplifying fraudulent content. To address these challenges, I use a mixed-method approach that integrates interviews, surveys, and content analysis of user-generated videos, and policy reviews. My research makes four key contributions: Non-western users exhibit novel perceptions of targeted ads: Users from South Asia, specifically, India and Bangladesh, prefer emerging ad formats such as influencer-based ads, have heightened concerns regarding fraudulent ads. Privacy behaviors are shaped by social, cultural, and religious norms: Cross-country comparisons reveal that culture and religion significantly influence users' perceptions and privacy management behaviors of targeted ads on social media. These findings underscore the need to move beyond Western-centric privacy paradigms. Fraudulent content and scams on TikTok exploit platform specific features: Fraudulent content and scams are widespread and increasingly sophisticated. Analysis of user-reported cases shows that scammers leverage influencer culture and TikTok-specific mechanisms (e.g., direct messaging and the “For You Page”) to target users. Generative AI governance remains fragmented and insufficient: Existing governance for use of Generative AI to produce and scale synthetic fraudulent content lacks clear enforceable rules, specifically for youth (ages 13-25). Variability across platform policies also signals lack of consensus on ethical use of Generative AI in social media. Overall, my work highlights the inequitable impact of digital harms on vulnerable and understudied populations. It proposes actionable design and policy interventions to enhance digital safety and privacy, contributes to a more responsible and equitable vision for the development and governance of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs).","Submission original under an indefinite embargo labeled 'Open Access'. The submission was exported from vireo on 2026-02-19 without embargo terms","The student, Smirity Kaushik, accepted the attached license on 2025-08-14 at 13:16.","The student, Smirity Kaushik, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2025-08-15 at 14:13.","This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2025-08-25 at 15:46.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #22760 on 2026-02-19 at 18:24:08"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132452"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2025 Smirity Kaushik"],"dc:subject":["social media, trust and safety, privacy, generative AI, targeted ads, scams, at-risk population"],"dc:title":["Digital trust, safety, and privacy in the age of emerging technologies: empirical and policy insights from global social media use"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Information Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:07Z"}