Ms Sophie Maddocks, MA, PGCE

Sophie Maddocks is an expert on digital abuse with a decade's experience working across schools, universities, and non-profits. Her research on image-based sexual abuse, synthetic media (deep fakes, AI porn), the metaverse, and harmful social media trends has been published in multiple peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes. Sophie has appeared on ABC World News and been quoted in Wired, Forbes, El País, i-News, Japan Today, and other news outlets.

Critical, intersectional, and youth-led, Sophie’s research begins from the view that cyber-sexual violence is preventable, not inevitable. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication and a Research Fellow at the Center for Media at Risk, Sophie has taught courses on digital media, inequality, and cyber-civil rights, as well as a participatory research workshop in partnership with two Philadelphia public schools.

A former high school teacher, youth worker, and sexual assault counselor, Sophie has collaborated with young people, community organizations, and school leaders to navigate the challenges of growing up online. Before moving to the US, Sophie was at British non-profit, The Sutton Trust, where she worked to challenge elitism and exclusion in Higher Education.

Sophie holds an MA from the New School for Public Engagement, a PGCE from the University of Warwick, and a BA from the University of Cambridge. She has won numerous academic awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship and the Penn Provost’s Graduate Academic Engagement Fellowship.

Sophie is passionate about challenging online harassment, opposing algorithmic discrimination, and building more equitable online spaces.

Sub-specialties:
Online harassment, image-based sexual abuse, synthetic media (deep fakes, AI porn), metaverse platforms, identity-based trolling, platform governance, content moderation, schools, youth and digital media.