Annett Heft

Annett Heft is a researcher at the Free University Berlin's Institute for Media and Communication Studies and leads the research group 'Dynamics of Digital Mobilization' at the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society. Her work focuses on comparative political communication and mobilization in Europe.

• Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Free University Berlin
• Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society

Research Interests: Annett Heft specializes in the digital communication strategies of right-wing populist and extremist groups, political mobilization in anti-democratic movements, computational social science methods, and conspiracy theory analysis. Her research combines traditional empirical approaches with data-driven techniques.

Projects: Heft is Principal Investigator for the 'NEOVEX' research consortium studying conspiracy theories and far-right ideologies during crises, and leads subprojects on hybrid information ecologies and transnational radical right agendas.

Memberships:

• German Society for Journalism and Communication Studies (DGPuK)
• European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
• International Communication Association (ICA)
• European Consortium of Political Research (ECPR)

Scientific Advisory: She contributes to the Research Unit of the Federal Working Group Against Hate on the Internet, bridging academic research with societal impact.

Publications: Her recent work examines cross-platform conspiracism, digital mobilization dynamics, and methodological challenges in analyzing non-institutionalized political actors.