Samika holds an undergraduate degree in Sociology from Fergusson College, Pune, and a Master’s in Gender, Culture, and Development Studies from Savitribai Phule Pune University. She completed her MSc in Data, Inequality, and Society at the University of Edinburgh, where her dissertation examined the lifecycle of online extreme speech and how digital content translates into tangible offline harm. Her primary areas of interest include the technological amplification of hate and online extreme speech, particularly at the intersections of gender, caste, religion and socio-economic marginalisation.
Samika is especially interested in questions of inclusion and accessibility, and in exploring how digital tools and emerging technologies can be designed and used in ways that advance people’s rights. Previously, as a Research Assistant at the Department of Women and Gender Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University, she contributed to projects examining the socio-economic conditions of domestic and gig workers, as well as the effects of intergenerational caste-based stigma on first-generation learners. Samika is also an artist and illustrator and often uses her work to support social causes. She is a fellow of the Ideosync-UNESCO Information and Media Rights Fellowship (IUIF).
