Yunkang Yang

Yunkang Yang is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University, affiliated with the Data Justice Lab. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Washington (2020), M.A. from Tsinghua University (2013), and B.A. from Nanjing Normal University (2011). His research focuses on the disruptive role of media in American politics, including social media manipulation, partisan news organizations, and foreign propaganda. He uses computational methods with large-scale datasets, publishing in outlets like Political Communication and Journal of Communication. His book Weapons of Mass Deception (2025, Oxford UP) examines right-wing media's erosion of democracy. He served as a Weizenbaum Institute fellow (2023) and contributes to media commentary for outlets like NBC News and The New Yorker.

Research Interests: Media & Politics, Computational Social Science, Disinformation, Propaganda, and Right-Wing Media Analysis.

Recent Work Trends: His articles analyze topics like Russian propaganda's influence on US media, visual misinformation on Facebook, and interactive propaganda between Fox News and political figures. His work bridges media studies with computational methods to address democratic challenges.

• Editorial Roles: Member of Political Communication editorial board, guest editor for its special issue on multi-platform research.
• Media Appearances: Interviewed by Wall Street Journal, NPR, AFP, and Politiken, among others.
• Labs/Teams: Data Justice Lab at Texas A&M, focusing on ethical data practices in media research.

His research also extends to global contexts, including Chinese protest strategies and AI adoption patterns, showcasing interdisciplinary reach.